Synapse: The Impulse Jumps the Gap

Also called

synapse · nerve impulse · neuron · axon · dendrite · synaptic cleft · neurotransmitter · synaptic vesicles · nerve ending · neuromuscular junction · how nerve impulses travel · electrical impulse to chemical signal · one-way transmission · nervous system · अंतर्ग्रथन · तंत्रिका आवेग · तंत्रिका कोशिका

Topics

• A nerve impulse is an electrical signal that travels along the dendrite, cell body and axon of a neuron.
• Neurons do not touch: between the axon end of one and the dendrite of the next is a tiny gap, the synapse.
• When the impulse reaches the axon end, tiny vesicles release a chemical (neurotransmitter) into the gap.
• The chemical crosses the gap and fits receptors on the next dendrite, which starts a new electrical impulse there.
• The chemical is released only at the axon end, so an impulse can cross a synapse in one direction only.
• A similar junction joins a motor neuron to a muscle fibre; the chemical makes the muscle contract.
• Converting the electrical signal to a chemical one and back is slower, but it lets the body control each path.
• The vesicles are refilled and the chemical in the gap is removed, so the synapse is ready for the next impulse.

About this model

A GLB file of about 442 KB, shown in Lably's 3D viewer and, on a phone, placed in your room with AR. Credit: Model, science and animation: Lably (built procedurally with three.js; no downloaded meshes). | CC BY 4.0. Original geometry and animation made for Lably.

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