And like electronic circuits they can transduce complex electric signals that carry a rich body of information and can be used in a huge number of applications. All perception, behavior, memory, thought and movement in higher animals are manifestations of the generation, propagation, enhancement and attenuation of electrical signals down the length of and between electrically-excitable cells. These phenomena arise from the interaction of a large network of individual cells, many of which have differing electrical properties. Multiple inputs can impinge upon a single cell and that cell can integrate the inputs producing the equivalence of logical 'or', ' and' and 'nor' functions that are undoubtedly important in the generation of neuronal plasticity. Furthermore, not all neurons act in a binary fashion being either on or off.
Some cells can vary the shape and duration of the evoked action potential.
This multistate form of electrical signaling can serve to increase the amount of information that a cell can transmit. In addition, some neurons exhibit 'cellular memory' in which stimulatory or inhibitory inputs cause long term changes in a cell's electrical properties, changes that exist long after the modulatory input has ceased. All of the described phenomena have their roots in the activity and modulation of individual ion channels. The electrical properties of a cell are actually produced by the coordinated activity of a suite of channels and the choice of which channels to express largely determines the range of properties that a cell can manifest. Understanding how a cell regulates the expression of its ion channel genes is a fundamental step towards comprehending how it produces and manipulates the electrical attributes of its membrane.