In sexology, a temporary state of psychophysiologic resistance to sexual stimulation immediately following orgasm.
A short space of time after the ventricles of the heart have contracted, when they cannot contract again.
In neurology, period of recover needed by a neuron after excitation or by a muscle after contraction (depolarization), during which repolarization of the cell membrane occurs; a stimulus applied during the refractory period will not evoke a response.
The time of recovery needed for a nerve cell that has just transmitted a nerve impulse or for a muscle fiber that has just contracted. During the refractory period a normal stimulus will not bring about excitation of the cell, which is undergoing repolarization.