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 with each between neurons so that electrical signals and important information of the body can be passed from one neuron to the next. And 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 helps connect organs that can sense pain or other things present in our surroundings (basically, connected to the nervous system). It 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
At first, the potential of action reaches the point of an axon. Then it depolarizes the membrane of the neuron. Ca2+ ions flow inside it as the voltage-gated Ca2+ channels open. The Ca2+ influx triggers synaptic vesicles, and it releases neurotransmitters. Lastly, the neurotransmitter binds to the receptor neurons on the target cells and causes all the positive ions to flow in. The synapses are microscopic gaps that cannot be seen with our bare eyes. These are so small that they can only be seen under a microscope. Different types of synapses are all different from each other.
They are all found in different locations of every neuron inside our body, and all have different important roles, without which the nervous system is not complete.
Different types of synapses:
Axosomatic synapse: If the synapse is found on the cell body, that is called an Axosomatic synapse.
Axodendritic synapse- when the synapse can be found on the dendrites, those are called Axodendritic synapses.
Axoaxonic synapse is a different type of synapse formed when a neuron is projecting its axon terminals on the other axon terminals of a different neuron.
Dendrodendritic synapses- these synapses are mainly the connections between the dendrites of two neurons that are different from each other.