Saltatory conduction

From Freepedia

Saltatory conduction is a means by which action potentials are transmitted along myelinated nerve fibers.

Because the salty cytoplasm of the axon is electrically conductive, and because the myelin inhibits charge leakage through the membrane, depolarization at one node of Ranvier is sufficient to elevate the voltage at a neighboring node to the threshold for action potential initiation. Thus in myelinated axons, action potentials do not propagate as waves, but recur at successive nodes and in effect hop along the axon, by which process they travel faster than they would otherwise. This process is outlined as the charge will passively spread to the next node of Ranvier to depolarize it to threshold which will then trigger an action potential in this region which will then passively spread to the next node and so on.

  sal.ta.to.ry \'sal-t*-.to-r-e-, 'so.l-, -.to.r-\ aj 1: of or relating to 
  dancing {the ~ art} 2: proceeding by leaps rather than by gradual 
  transitions : DISCONTINUOUS