# Receptor potential

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{{Short description|Potential after receptor activation}}
A '''receptor potential''', also known as a ''' generator potential''',<ref>Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. https://www.merriam-webster.com/medical/generator%20potential</ref> a type of [graded potential](/source/graded_potential), is the [transmembrane potential difference](/source/transmembrane_potential_difference) produced by activation of a [sensory receptor](/source/sensory_receptor).<ref>{{Cite book|first=Bertil|last=Hille|author-link=Bertil Hille|title=Ion Channels of Excitable Membranes|edition=3rd|year=2001|publisher=Sinauer|location=Sunderland, Massachusetts|chapter=Chapter 8. Sensory transduction and excitable cells.|pages=237&ndash;268|isbn=0-87893-321-2}}</ref>

A receptor potential is often produced by [sensory transduction](/source/sensory_transduction).<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1109/TOH.2014.2369422 |title=Vibrotactile Sensitivity Threshold: Nonlinear Stochastic Mechanotransduction Model of the Pacinian Corpuscle |year=2015 |last1=Biswas |first1=Abhijit |journal=IEEE Transactions on Haptics |volume=8 |issue=1 |pages=102–113 |pmid=25398183 |last2=Manivannan |first2=M. |last3=Srinivasan |first3=Mandyam A.|url=https://zenodo.org/record/894772 }}</ref> It is generally a [depolarizing](/source/depolarizing) event resulting from inward [current](/source/current_(electricity)) flow. The influx of current will often bring the [membrane potential](/source/membrane_potential) of the sensory receptor towards the threshold for triggering an [action potential](/source/action_potential). Receptor potential can work to trigger an action potential either within the same [neuron](/source/neuron) or on an adjacent cell. Within the same neuron, a receptor potential can cause local current to flow to a region capable of generating an action potential by opening [voltage-gated ion channels](/source/Voltage-gated_ion_channel).<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Vander's Human Physiology: The Mechanisms of Body Function|last=Widmaier|first=Eric P.|last2=Raff|first2=Hershel|last3=Strang|first3=Kevin T.|publisher=McGraw Hill|location=New York|pages=193}}</ref> A receptor potential can also cause the release of [neurotransmitter](/source/neurotransmitter)s from one cell that will act on another cell, generating an action potential in the second cell.<ref name=":0" /> The magnitude of the receptor potential determines the frequency with which [action potential](/source/action_potential)s are generated and is controlled by adaptation, stimulus strength, and temporal summation of successive receptor potentials.<ref name=":0" /> Receptor potential relies on receptor sensitivity which can adapt slowly, resulting in a slowly decaying receptor potential or rapidly, resulting in a quickly generated but shorter-lasting receptor potential.<ref name=":0" />

An example of a receptor potential is in a [taste bud](/source/taste_bud), where taste is converted into an electrical signal sent to the brain.  When stimulated, the taste bud triggers the release of neurotransmitters through [exocytosis](/source/exocytosis) of [synaptic vesicle](/source/synaptic_vesicle)s from the [presynaptic](/source/presynaptic) membrane. The neurotransmitter molecules diffuse across the [synaptic cleft](/source/synaptic_cleft) to the [postsynaptic](/source/postsynaptic) membrane of the primary sensory neuron, where they elicit an [action potential](/source/action_potential).

==See also==
*[Resting potential](/source/Resting_potential)
*[Action potential](/source/Action_potential)

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Receptor Potential}}
Category:Receptors
Category:Electrophysiology
Category:Graded potentials

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Receptor potential](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Receptor_potential) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Receptor_potential?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.