PSY395H5 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Endocrinology, Genetically Modified Organism, Castrato
Document Summary
This term was rst used by bayliss and starling to describe secretin (a hormone that acts on the stomach). Hormones are organic chemical signals produced by endocrine glands. These glands release hormones in the blood stream, which travels all over the body. Each hormone has its own receptor, that is the spot where it will perform its action. As they are released on blood stream, hormones act at a long-distance from the cell that produces them. Neural transmission also happens through chemical signaling with neurotransmitters, instead of hormones. The neurotransmitters are released by the terminal buttons of the presynaptic cell into the synaptic cleft and captured by the dendrites of the postsynaptic cell (neuron). The synaptic cleft has about 20-30 nm size, showing that neural communication happens at very little distance and is very precise, because is speci c for that neuron that is receiving the neurotransmitter.
