Final answer:
Increasing potassium permeability from the resting state in a neuron would lead to hyperpolarization, where the inside of the cell becomes more negative than the resting membrane potential, which occurs before the cell returns to its resting state.
Step-by-step explanation:
Increasing potassium permeability from rest in a neuron has the effect of causing the membrane potential to become more negative, leading to hyperpolarization. Normally, the resting membrane potential is around -70 mV due to the presence of more potassium ions inside the cell than outside. When the potassium permeability increases, more potassium ions leave the cell, following their concentration gradient. This causes an increase in the negative charge inside the cell because positive ions are exiting, making the inside of the cell even more negative relative to the outside. This shift towards a more negative membrane potential moves the membrane potential away from the threshold for generating an action potential, thereby stabilizing the cell's electrical state.During repolarization, the membrane potential returns to the -70 mV value that indicates the resting potential, but if potassium channels remain open longer than necessary, it can actually overshoot that value resulting in hyperpolarization.
Eventually, the potassium channels close, and the sodium-potassium ATPase helps to restore the resting membrane potential.As a summary, increasing potassium permeability during a neuron's resting state leads to more potassium ions exiting the cell and an exaggeration of the negative resting membrane potential, or hyperpolarization, before the system returns to the -70 mV resting membrane potential.