I believe that it is worth spending one week to understand how cell potentials operate because they are key mechanisms in a neuron's standard function. We attempt to gain a better understanding of human behavior in this class, but we cannot do so without fully studying the "physical units" of behavior: the neurons. Until we understand exactly how and why neurons function as they do, we will never be able to understand how the nervous system transmits messages via neurons throughout the body, creating the types of behavior we are attempting to study. Cell potentials offer the best explanation for this neural transmission, and as they can be a rather tricky subject to study, they warrant a week of classtime.

Fair enough. Besides which, they help define the next questions. PG