Cell membranes are composed of a lipid bilayer. It has different receptors that allow different ions to pass, depending on the conditions in the cell.
Leak channels- always open allow ions to flow back and fourth across the cell membrane Na cl ,K and Ca ions and they just flow back and fourth without any gate keeper or obstruction, When the neuron is at rest its cytoplasm is Negatively charged. That means that it is not going under depolarization, we use the term resting potential.
Modality gated channels- specific to sensory neurons, open in response to mechanical forces (i.e. stretch, touch, pressure, temperature changes or chemicals)
Ligand- is a particular molecule that causes a receptor to open. The ligand gated channels open in response to a neurotransmitter binding to the surface of a channel receptor on a postsynaptic cell membrane, when open these channels allow the flow of electrically charged ions between extracellular and intracellular environments of the cell, resulting in the generation of a local potential.
voltage gated receptors will remain closed until a change in activity comes along which will cause them to open up. Voltage gated channels open in response to changes in electrical potential across the cell membrane. Voltage gated channels are important for the release of neurotransmitters and the formation of action potentials.
Potential- is the difference between the inside and the outside of the cell , potential is measure in Mv.
In addition we have a Na, K pump that requires energy to function. Your other receptors function electrically or they function with a special toll that has to be paid when a chemical arrives at that cell membrane and that toll is what we call a ligand
The Na/K pump sends K inside the cell and Na out both are positively charged for every 2K that come in 3Na go out and that contributes to the negative charge in the cytoplasm of the neural cell. The other thing that