Neurons communicate with each other, relaying messages throughout your body and powering all of your thoughts and actions. Neurons talk to each other using both electrical and chemical signals. Messages start as electrical signals traveling rapidly down a neuron. These signals are called action potentials. When they reach the gap between two neurons, the messages need some help to get across. The information is transformed from an action potential into a chemical message, which crosses the gap called a synapse. The release of those chemical messengers can trigger an action potential in the neuron on the other side of the synapse, conveying the message onward. Or it can quiet the message. This happens over and over and over. And with repeated activity, the synapse gets stronger, so the next message is more likely to get through. That way, neurons learn to pass on important messages and ignore the rest. This is how our brains learn and adapt to an ever-changing world.