For the nervous system to function, neurons must be able to communicate with each other, and they do this through structures called synapses. At the synapse, the terminal of a presynaptic cell comes into close contact with the cell membrane of a postsynaptic neuron. There are two types of synapses, electrical and chemical.
Electrical synapses are a direct connection between two neurons. Cell membrane proteins, called connexons, form gap junctions between the neurons. The gap junctions form pores that allow ions to flow between neurons, so as an action potential propagates in the presynaptic neuron, the infrared rays are released into the pre-synaptic neuron.
flux of sodium can move directly into the postsynaptic neuron and depolarize the cell. The response in the postsynaptic cell is almost immediate, with little to no delay between signaling in the pre-and postsynaptic neurons. Since the gap junctions allow diffusion of ions without any obstruction, the signal can flow bidirectionally through an electrical synapse. The electrochemical gradients will drive direction of ion flow.
Additionally, small molecules like ATP or second messengers can also move through the gap junctions. These signaling molecules play an important role in cellular mechanisms, which we will see in a later chapter. Chemical synapses do not form physical connections between the pre-and post-synaptic neurons.
Instead, a space called the synaptic cleft exists between the presynaptic terminal and the postsynaptic membrane. Neurotransmitters are stored in the presynaptic cell, and the postsynaptic cell has neurotransmitter receptors in the membrane. At a chemical synapse, the depolarization of an action potential reaching the presynaptic terminal causes release of neurotransmitters, which act on specialized receptors located in the cell membrane of the postsynaptic neuron.
The structure and function of chemical synapses make them slower than electrical synapses and permit signaling in only one direction. As we discuss synaptic transmission, we will focus mainly on axodendritic synapses, in which the presynaptic terminal synapses on the dendrites of the postsynaptic cell. But synapses can also be used to synaptic transmission.
be located between the terminal and the cell body of the postsynaptic cell, called axosomatic, or even between the terminal and the axon of the postsynaptic cell, called axoaxonic.