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In the nervous system, a synapse [1] is a structure that allows a neuron (or nerve cell) to pass an electrical or chemical signal to another neuron or a target effector cell. Synapses can be classified as either chemical or electrical, depending on the mechanism of signal transmission between neurons.
The events of the synaptic vesicle cycle can be divided into a few key steps: [10] 1. Trafficking to the synapse. Synaptic vesicle components in the presynaptic neuron are initially trafficked to the synapse using members of the kinesin motor family. In C. elegans the major motor for synaptic vesicles is UNC-104. [11]
An electrical synapse is an electrically conductive link between two abutting neurons that is formed at a narrow gap between the pre- and postsynaptic cells, known as a gap junction. At gap junctions, cells approach within about 3.5 nm of each other, rather than the 20 to 40 nm distance that separates cells at chemical synapses.
Synaptogenesis is the formation of synapses between neurons in the nervous system. Although it occurs throughout a healthy person's lifespan , an explosion of synapse formation occurs during early brain development , known as exuberant synaptogenesis . [ 1 ]
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 ...
Neurons communicate with one another via synapses. Synapses are specialized junctions between two cells in close apposition to one another. In a synapse, the neuron that sends the signal is the presynaptic neuron and the target cell receives that signal is the postsynaptic neuron or cell. Synapses can be either electrical or chemical.
There are two ways that the brain can rewire: formation and removal of synapses in an established connection or formation or removal of entire connections between neurons. [57] Both mechanisms of rewiring are useful for learning completely novel tasks that may require entirely new connections between regions of the brain. [58]
Neurons form complex biological neural networks through which nerve impulses (action potentials) travel. Neurons do not touch each other (except in the case of an electrical synapse through a gap junction); instead, neurons interact at close contact points called synapses. A neuron transports its information by way of an action potential.