Synapse

The synapse is a site or a connective place where electric impulses between two nerve cells can be transmitted. So, it can also be called the neuronal junction or a synaptic connection.

It is mainly the points that are in contact between neurons so that electrical signals and important information of the body can be passed from one neuron to the next. This is how the information can be passed to the brain right after receiving it. Then the brain reacts to it, sending electric impulses and chemical signals to certain organs.

Synapses act like connective wires in a circuit that help connect organs that can sense pain or other things present in our surroundings (basically, connected to the nervous system).

They can connect neurons in the brain and to neurons in the rest of the body, and from those neurons to the muscles, to pass electric impulses, chemical hormones, and important information needed for the body.

The Synapse Process

1. The potential of action reaches the point of an axon.

2. It depolarizes the membrane of the neuron.

3. Ca⊃2;⁺ ions flow inside it as the voltage-gated Ca⊃2;⁺ channels open.

4. The Ca⊃2;⁺ influx triggers synaptic vesicles, and they release neurotransmitters.

5. The neurotransmitter binds to the receptor neurons on the target cells and causes all the positive ions to flow in.

Key Facts About Synapses

• Synapses are microscopic gaps that cannot be seen with our bare eyes.

• They are so small that they can only be seen under a microscope.

• Different types of synapses exist in various locations of neurons inside our body.

• All synapses have different important roles, without which the nervous system is not complete.

Different Types of Synapses

• Axosomatic synapse: Found on the cell body of a neuron.

• Axodendritic synapse: Found on the dendrites of a neuron.

• Axoaxonic synapse: Formed when a neuron projects its axon terminals onto the axon terminals of another neuron.

• Dendrodendritic synapse: Connections between the dendrites of two different neurons.