User:Yeti2021/sandbox

Which article are you evaluating?[edit]

Graded potential

Why you have chosen this article to evaluate?[edit]

I chose this article because I am currently taking two elective collegiate courses (Histology and Pharmacology of Recreational Drugs) along with Biochemistry, that all have touched on many important points on action and graded potentials to better understand the physiology of nerve cells. I found these two topics to be confusing and spent extra effort in comprehending the similarities and differences between action vs. graded potentials. I hope to contribute clarifying information with more reliable sources that helped me to better understand the topic on graded potential that is not currently in this article, and also improve the organization of information which has been written.

Evaluate the article[edit]

The article is written from a neutral point of view, has good links to related entries, and a good overall structure. The lead section is in need of a few updates and rearrangement of sentences to match the sections. A minor suggestion of renaming the sections to match information mentioned in the lead section would improve the flow. Also, another section worth of additions is recommended prior to "EPSPs" section to clear up what was discussed on the talk page under "What determines that a membrane potential is GRADED?" More discussion on the differences between action potentials and graded potentials is needed prior to discussing EPSPs. Talking more about where they occur in this new section can also be included since it was briefly mentioned in the lead section. Finally, a good article will require more up-to-date references. Here are suggestions:

• To make the introductory sentence more clear, change "vary in size" to "vary in magnitude" to avoid the reader thinking of physical dimensions or "vary according to the size of the stimulus" which matches with the image next to it.
• Rearrange sentences in the lead section to go with the flow of the remaining sections that reflect the major points.
• After lead section include a new section "Ligand-Gated Ion Channels" to discuss where graded potentials are produced (dendrites and soma), how they are activated, and how they differ from action potentials. The central point being that there are either action potentials or graded potentials and a graded potential is not all-or-nothing like an action potential, but rather vary in magnitude in response to a stimulus. Ending with "...each synapse will be either excitatory or inhibitory." This leads into the next section of EPSPs.
• One or two more updated reliable source(s) can be included in this new section.
• Change two section titles for clarity "Excitatory Postsynaptic Potentials (EPSPs)" and "Inhibitory Postsynaptic Potential (IPSPs)".
• Provide reliable sources under IPSPs and Summation sections.