Definition of "nerve impulse" []

• A wave of physical and chemical excitation along a nerve fiber in response to a stimulus, accompanied by a transient change in electric potential in the membrane of the fiber. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Back in 1965, knowing that the transmission of a nerve impulse from one cell to another involves the movement of sodium and potassium ions back and forth through the cell membrane, and is controlled by the enzyme sodium-potassium ATPase, Yedy Israel and Harold Kalant had set up an experiment that showed that alcohol inhibits the activity of this enzyme and tends to “shut off” the cell."