Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 14, 2026

Real-time Electrophysiology: Using Closed-loop Protocols to Probe Neuronal Dynamics and Beyond
Published on: June 24, 2015
Defining the electrical synapse
Alberto E Pereda1, Adam C Miller2
1Dominick P. Purpura Department of Neuroscience, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, NY, USA. alberto.pereda@einsteinmed.edu.
Abstract:
Electrical and chemical synapses together shape neural circuits critically required for the processing of information by the nervous system. Owing to the relative simplicity of the mechanism of action mediating electrical coupling between neurons, electrical transmission is generally perceived as static and results solely from the function of intercellular channels at structures known as 'gap junctions'. However, electrical synapses are dynamic structures that exhibit changes in their synaptic strength, indicating a need for a deeper understanding of the determinants regulating their structure and plasticity. Mounting evidence indicates that, beyond the intercellular channels, electrical transmission is supported by sophisticated synaptic structures with an unanticipated complexity in their molecular organization, requiring a new, broader definition of electrical synapses.
Related Concept Videos
Electrical Synapses
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...
The Synapse
Overview of Synapses
Synaptic Signaling
Most synapses are chemical, meaning an electrical impulse or action potential spurs the release of chemical messengers called neurotransmitters. The neuron sending the signal is called the presynaptic neuron, and the neuron receiving the signal is the postsynaptic neuron.
The presynaptic neuron fires an action potential that...
Synaptic Signaling
Chemical Synapses
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...

