To remove or reduce the electrical polarity of something, especially to cause a nerve or muscle cell to lose its resting electrical charge difference.
From de- (reverse action) + polarise (to give polarity to), from Latin polaris. Created in 19th-century scientific English to describe cellular processes.
Your heart beating, your muscles contracting, even your thoughts firing—they all depend on cells depolarising in precise patterns, so understanding this one concept explains countless biological processes!
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