noun Physiology.
- a short period after a nerve or muscle cell fires during which the cell cannot respond to additional stimulation.
noun
- a period during which a nerve or muscle is incapable of responding to stimulation, esp immediately following a previous stimulation. In an absolute refractory period there is a total inability to respond; in an effective or relative refractory period there is a response to very large stimuli
n.
- The period that follows effective stimulation, during which excitable tissue fails to respond to a stimulus of threshold intensity.
- The period immediately following the transmission of an impulse in nerve or muscle, in which a neuron or muscle cell regains its ability to transmit another impulse. See more at action potential.