Nerve Impulse Definition

(1) The movement of a nerve fiber’s action potential in response to a stimulation (such as touch, pain, heat or cold).

(2) The transmission of a coded signal from a nerve cell to an effector, such as a muscle, gland, or another nerve cell, across the membrane of a nerve cell.

A Nerve impulse is the reaction to a stimulus of a coded signal from a nerve cell to an effector (muscle cell, gland cell, or another nerve cell).

It’s how a nerve cell communicates with another nerve cell.

This signal travels through the nerve cell’s axon, carrying a message instructing an effector to act.

A nerve impulse, for example, travels through the axon of a nerve cell to urge a muscle cell to contract at a neuromuscular junction.

The word originated from nerve + impulse.