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  2. Synapse - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synapse

    The synapse is the primary unit of information transfer in the nervous system, and correct synaptic contact creation during development is essential for normal brain function. In addition, several mutations have been connected to neurodevelopmental disorders, and that compromised function at different synapse locations is a hallmark of ...

  3. Axon terminal - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axon_terminal

    Axon terminals (also called terminal boutons, synaptic boutons, end-feet, or presynaptic terminals) are distal terminations of the branches of an axon. An axon, also called a nerve fiber, is a long, slender projection of a nerve cell that conducts electrical impulses called action potentials away from the neuron's cell body to transmit those ...

  4. Chemical synapse - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemical_synapse

    Chemical synapses pass information directionally from a presynaptic cell to a postsynaptic cell and are therefore asymmetric in structure and function. The presynaptic axon terminal, or synaptic bouton, is a specialized area within the axon of the presynaptic cell that contains neurotransmitters enclosed in small membrane-bound spheres called ...

  5. Neuromuscular junction - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuromuscular_junction

    In the neuromuscular system, nerves from the central nervous system and the peripheral nervous system are linked and work together with muscles. [3] Synaptic transmission at the neuromuscular junction begins when an action potential reaches the presynaptic terminal of a motor neuron , which activates voltage-gated calcium channels to allow ...

  6. Neurotransmission - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neurotransmission

    Neurotransmission (Latin: transmissio "passage, crossing" from transmittere "send, let through") is the process by which signaling molecules called neurotransmitters are released by the axon terminal of a neuron (the presynaptic neuron), and bind to and react with the receptors on the dendrites of another neuron (the postsynaptic neuron) a ...

  7. Synaptic vesicle - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synaptic_vesicle

    The area in the axon that holds groups of vesicles is an axon terminal or "terminal bouton". Up to 130 vesicles can be released per bouton over a ten-minute period of stimulation at 0.2 Hz. [ 1 ] In the visual cortex of the human brain, synaptic vesicles have an average diameter of 39.5 nanometers (nm) with a standard deviation of 5.1 nm.

  8. Excitatory synapse - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Excitatory_synapse

    Glutamate is a small, amino acid neurotransmitter, and is the primary excitatory neurotransmitter at almost all synapses in the central nervous system. This molecule binds multiple postsynaptic receptors including the NMDA receptor, AMPA receptor, and kainate receptors.

  9. Active zone - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Active_zone

    A diagram of the proteins found in the active zone. The active zone is present in all chemical synapses examined so far and is present in all animal species. The active zones examined so far have at least two features in common, they all have protein dense material that project from the membrane and tethers synaptic vesicles close to the membrane and they have long filamentous projections ...