cardiac action potential duration is closer to 100 ms (with variations depending on cell type, autonomic tone, etc.). After an action potential initiates, the cardiac cell is unable to initiate another action potential for some duration of time (which is slightly shorter than the "true" action potential duration). This period of time is referred to as the refractory period, which is 250ms in duration and helps to protect the heart. In the classical sense, the cardiac refractory period is separated into an absolute refractory period and a relative refractory period. During the absolute refractory period, a new action potential cannot be elicited. During the relative refractory period, a new action potential can be elicited under the correct circumstances. The cardiac refractory period can result in different forms of re-entry, which are a cause of tachycardia. Vortices of excitation in the myocardium (autowave vortices) are a form of re-entry. Such vortices can be a mechanism of life-threatening cardiac arrhythmias. In particular, the autowave reverberator, more commonly referred to as spiral waves or rotors, can be found within the atria and may be a cause of atrial fibrillation. Neuronal refractory period The refractory period in a neuron occurs after an action potential and generally lasts one millisecond. An action potential consists of three phases. Phase one is depolarization. During depolarization, voltage-gated sodium ion channels open, increasing the neuron's membrane conductance for sodium ions and depolarizing the cell's membrane potential (from typically -70 mV toward a positive potential). In other words, the membrane is made less negative. After the potential reaches the activation threshold (-55 mV), the depolarization is actively driven by the neuron and overshoots the equilibrium potential of an activated membrane (+30 mV). Phase two is repolarization. During repolarization, voltage-gated sodium ion channels inactivate (different from the closed state) due to the now-depolarized membrane, and voltage-gated potassium channels activate (open). Both the inactivation of the sodium ion channels and the opening of the potassium ion channels act to repolarize the cell's membrane potential back to its resting membrane potential. When the cell's membrane voltage overshoots its resting membrane potential (near -60 mV), the cell enters a phase of hyperpolarization. This is due to a larger-than-resting potassium conductance across the cell membrane. This potassium conductance eventually drops and the cell returns to its resting membrane potential. Recent research has shown that neuronal refractory periods can exceed 20 milliseconds. Furthermore, the relation between