overshoot
1. Generally, any initial change, in response to a sudden step change in some factor, that is greater than the steady-state response to the new level of that factor; common in systems in which inertia or a time lag in negative feedback outweighs any damping that may be present. Changes in a negative direction are sometimes distinguished by the term undershoot, and the two may alternate in an oscillatory fashion, as in the transient oscillations of a pendulum when released from an initial displacement.
2. Momentary reversal of the membrane potential of a cell (inside becoming positive rather than negative relative to the outside) during an action potential; considered a form of overshoot because, before discovery of overshoot, excitation was thought merely to depolarise the membrane to zero transmembrane potential.
Dictionary > Overshoots
You will also like...
Animal Water Regulation
Animals adapt to their environment in aspects of anatomy, physiology, and behavior. This tutorial will help you understa..
Plant Water Regulation
Plants need to regulate water in order to stay upright and structurally stable. Find out the different evolutionary adap..
The Water Cycle
The water cycle (also referred to as the hydrological cycle) is a system of continuous transfer of water from the air, s..
Adaptation Tutorial
Adaptation, in biology and ecology, refers to the process or trait through which organisms or the populations in a habit..
Plant Biology
Plantlife can be studied at a variety of levels, from the molecular, genetic and biochemical level through organelles, c..
The Origins of Life
This tutorial digs into the past to investigate the origins of life. The section is split into geological periods in the..