Synapse

The small gap that separates neurons across which information flows from one cell to another.

The gap between the membrane of one nerve cell and the membrane of another. The synapse is the space through which the nerve impulse is passed, chemically or electrically, from one nerve to another.

The gap, or junction, between terminal ends of the axon and other neurons, muscle cells, or glands.

Neurons are connected with other neurons or target tissues via synapses where the action potential is converted into a chemical signal (neurotransmitter).

The connections between neurons.

Narrow gap between two neurons in a neural pathway where the termination (axon) of one neuron comes in close proximity with the beginning (dendrite) or cell body of another neuron.

In neurology and anatomy, junction or meeting place between two nerve cells.

A point in the nervous system where the axons of neurones are in contact with the dendrites of other neurones.

A place where nerve impulses are transmitted from one neuron to another.

Tiny gap between two neurons or between a neuron and a muscle across which nerve impulses are transmitted through the action of neurotransmitters (e.g., acetylcholine). When an impulse reaches the end of one neuron, it causes the release of a neurotransmitter that diffuses across the gap to trigger an impulse in the other neuron or muscle.

The microscopic gap between two neurons, or nerve cells. To send a nerve impulse across this gap, the sending neuron releases chemicals known as neurotransmitters from a structure called the synaptic bulb. The neurotransmitters bind with receptors on the neighboring nerve cell. The receptors open channels on the target cell that allow electrochemical activity in the target cell. The neurotransmitters then excite or inhibit the receiving cell.

The minute gap across which nerve impulses pass from one neuron to the next, at the end of a nerve fiber. Reaching a synapse, an impulse causes the release of a neurotransmitter, which diffuses across the gap and triggers an electrical impulse in the next neuron. Some brain cells have more than 15,000 synapses.

The term applied to the anatomical relation of one neurone (nerve cell) with another which is effected at various points by contact of their branching processes. The two neurons do not come directly into contact, but the release of a chemical neurotransmitter by one neuronal axon results in this chemical travelling across the synapse and firing off the signal along another nerve. A signal can be sent across a synapse in one direction only, from presynaptic or postsynaptic membranes. Synapses are divided into excitatory and inhibitory types. When a neurotransmitter travels across an excitatory synapse it usually provokes the receptor neuron into initiating an electrical impulse. Inhibitory synapses cool down the excitation of the adjacent neurons. Drugs that influence the nervous system usually do so by affecting the release or modification of the neurotransmitters passing across the synapse.

The space between the junction of two neurons in a neural pathway, where the termination of the axon of one neuron comes into close proximity with the cell body or dendrites of another. The electrical impulse traveling along a presynaptic neuron to the end of its axon releases a chemical neurotransmitter that stimulates or inhibits an electrical impulse in the postsynaptic neuron; synaptic transmission is in one direction only. Synapses are susceptible to fatigue, offer a resistance to the passage of impulses, and are markedly susceptible to the effects of oxygen deficiency, anesthetics, and other agents, including therapeutic drugs and toxic chemicals.

The space between an axon and the structure with which the neuron communicates.