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The Synapse

The Synapse

Neurons communicate with one another by passing on their electrical signals to other neurons. A synapse is the location where two neurons meet to exchange signals. At the synapse, the neuron that sends the signal is called the presynaptic cell, while the neuron that receives the message is called the postsynaptic cell. Note that most neurons can be both presynaptic and postsynaptic, as they both transmit and receive information.

Electrical Synapses

Electrical Synapses

Electrical synapses found in all nervous systems play important and unique roles. In these synapses, the presynaptic and postsynaptic membranes are very close together (3.5 nm) and are actually physically connected by channel proteins forming gap junctions.
Gap junctions allow the current to pass directly from one cell to the next. In contrast, in the chemical synapse, the neurotransmitters carry the information through the synaptic cleft from one neuron to the next. They consist of two...

Chemical Synapses

Chemical Synapses

Chemical synapses are specialized sites between two neurons or between a neuron and a non-neuronal cell like a muscle, glandular or sensory cell.
Because chemical synapses depend on the release of neurotransmitter molecules from synaptic vesicles to pass on their signal, there is an approximately one millisecond delay between when the axon potential reaches the presynaptic terminal and when the neurotransmitter leads to opening of postsynaptic ion channels. Additionally, this signaling is...

Chemical Synapses

Chemical Synapses

Chemical synapses are specialized sites between two neurons or between a neuron and a non-neuronal cell like a muscle, glandular or sensory cell.
Because chemical synapses depend on the release of neurotransmitter molecules from synaptic vesicles to pass on their signal, there is an approximately one millisecond delay between when the axon potential reaches the presynaptic terminal and when the neurotransmitter leads to opening of postsynaptic ion channels. Additionally, this signaling is...

Global Climate Change

Global Climate Change

Throughout its ~4.5 billion year history, the Earth has experienced periods of warming and cooling. However, the current drastic increase in global temperatures is well outside of the Earth’s cyclic norms, and evidence for human-caused global climate change is compelling. Paleoclimatology, the study of ancient climate conditions, provides ample evidence for human-caused global climate change by comparing recent conditions with those in the past.

Rates of Change

Rates of Change

The rate of change is a central concept in mathematics that quantifies how one variable varies in response to another. It serves as a foundational tool in modeling dynamic systems across disciplines such as physics, biology, economics, and engineering. Understanding both average and instantaneous rates of change enables the analysis of behavior in functions that describe real-world phenomena.Average Rate of ChangeFor a function f(x) defined over an interval [x1,x2], the average rate of change...

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Feb 4, 2026

Quantifying Synapses: an Immunocytochemistry-based Assay to Quantify Synapse Number

Quantifying Synapses: an Immunocytochemistry-based Assay to Quantify Synapse Number

Published on: November 16, 2010

Molecular mechanisms that change synapse number.

Alicia Mansilla¹, Sheila Jordán-Álvarez¹, Elena Santana¹

¹a Institute Cajal C.S.I.C , Madrid , Spain.

Journal of Neurogenetics

|October 11, 2018

Summary

Synapses, the nervous system's functional units, rapidly change their structure and protein makeup. These rapid synaptic modifications influence behavior and are driven by external environmental factors.

Keywords:

CAMKII GPCR MAPK NMDA PI3K circadian rhythm spine

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Last Updated: Feb 4, 2026

Quantifying Synapses: an Immunocytochemistry-based Assay to Quantify Synapse Number

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Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Molecular Biology
Cell Biology

Background:

Synapses are crucial for nervous system function.
Synaptic structure and protein composition change over time.
These changes correlate with behavioral outputs and environmental influences.

Purpose of the Study:

To review recent advances in molecular and cellular mechanisms of synaptic changes.
To focus on synaptic modifications occurring within minutes to hours.

Main Methods:

Literature review of publications from the last 10 years.
Focus on molecular and cellular mechanisms.
Analysis of studies examining short-term synaptic plasticity.

Main Results:

Recent research has elucidated key molecular and cellular pathways underlying rapid synaptic alterations.
Understanding these mechanisms provides insight into the dynamic nature of neural circuits.
Synaptic plasticity occurs on rapid timescales, influencing neural function.

Conclusions:

Significant progress has been made in understanding the rapid molecular and cellular basis of synaptic changes.
These short-term synaptic modifications are fundamental to neural function and behavioral adaptation.