How can this action potential be propagated along the neuron?

When the
sodium channels are opened, sodium ions rush in; once inside they cause
nearby regions of the neuron to become depolarized by moving laterally
through the axon. This, in turn, causes the opening of more voltage-gated
sodium channels in those regions. Thus, the sodium channel activation
moves in a wave-like fashion: the action potential is propagated down the
length of the neuron, from its input source at the dendrites, to the cell body,
and then down the axon to the synaptic terminals. How does the action
potential maintain this directional flow that is key to information processing?
The sodium channels have a mechanism that avoids "back propagation" of
the action potential, which would result in a confused signal. After opening,
the sodium channels become inactivated as the potential becomes more
positive, and they cannot open again until they are "reset" by
hyperpolarization at the end of an action potential. This brief period of
sodium channel inactivation, called a refractory period, prevents bidirectional
propagation of the action potential, constraining it to go in only one
direction.
https://www.learner.org/courses/biology/textbook/neuro/neuro_4.html
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Action potential propagation in axons

inward Na+ currents that occur during the rising phase of an action
potential spread out through the interior of an axon in a manner
analagous to a graded potential

these currents will depolarize an adjacent area of membrane, causing

it to reach action potential threshold and open voltage-gated
Na+ channels in that region
o because the voltage-gated Na+ channels produce a regenerative
current, the action potential retains its amplitude with distance
(it's "all-or-none") as subsequent patches of membrane are
activated

Unlike graded potentials, the propogation of an action potential is

unidirectional, because the absolute refractory period prevents the
initiation of an AP in a region of membrane that has just produced an
AP. In myelinated axons, APs appear to "jump" from node to node, in a
process called SALTATORY CONDUCTION, because no
depolarization occurs between the nodes.

AP propagation is facilitated by myelination, because:

1) voltage-gated Na+ channels are concentrated at the nodes of
Ranvier, and
2) the myelin insulates the axon, preventing ions from leaking out
(myelin is fatty and therefore
has high resistance)

as a result, the spacing between the nodes is critical; if they are too
far apart, the currents will decay to the point that they are not large
enough to depolarize the membrane at the next node (remember the
discussion of the length constant)
o similarly, in unmyelinated axons, the voltage-gated channels
must be spaced frequently enough to ensure that the currents
carried within the axon are large enough to ensure conduction

http://www.d.umn.edu/~jfitzake/Lectures/DMED/NeuralCo
mmunication/MembranePotentials/Propagation.html