Chemical Synapse Research Paper

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What is a Synapse you may ask? Neurons have dendrites and axons. They each have a job; dendrites bring information to the cell body and axons take information away from the cell body. The synapse is where nerve impulses are transmitted and received. A synapse contains of a presynaptic ending that contains neurotransmitters such as mitochondria and other cell organelle, a postsynaptic ending that contains receptor sites for neurotransmitters, they use the neurotransmitters to communicate. An electrical impulse travels down the axon of neurons it then triggers the release of neurotransmitters. These chemical messengers cross the synaptic cleft and connect with receptor sites in the next nerve cell, triggering an electrical impulse known as an action potential.…show more content…
Chemical synapses are junctions in which cells of the nervous system signal one another and to non-neuronal cells such as glands or muscles. There are different chemical synapses such as neuromuscular junction, which includes motor neurons and muscle cells. The chemical synapses that compute our perception and thought, are the ones that form interconnected neural circuits. They also provide the means through which the nervous system connects to and controls the other systems of the body. The human brain contains a large amount of chemical synapses; young children may have about 10,000 trillion synapses. As we reach adulthood that amount decreases to 1,000 to 5,000 synapses. What are Electrical Synapses? An electrical synapse contains both electrical and mechanical conductive link between two abutting neurons that is formed at a narrow gap between the pre and post-synaptic neurons also knows as the gap junction. Electrical synapses synchronize electrical activity among populations of neurons. Certain hormone-secreting neurons within the mammalian hypothalamus are connected through electrical synapses. This ensures that cells fire action potentials at the same
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