PSY 2210 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Axon Terminal, Porosome, Postsynaptic Potential

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Intro: the primary means of communication between neurons is synaptic transmission - the transmission of messages from one neuron (presynaptic cell) to another (postsynaptic cell)across a synapse carried by neurotransmitters. Neurotransmitters then produce postsynaptic potentials - brief depolarizations of hyperpolarizations - that increase or decrease the rate of firing of the axon of the postsynaptic axon. Neurotransmitters exert their effects on cells by attaching to a particular region of a receptor molecule called the binding site the shapes are complimentary. A chemical that attached to a binding site is called a ligand. These two membranes face each other across the synaptic cleft, a gap that varies in size from synapse to synapse, but is usually around 20nm wide. A meshwork of filaments keep the membranes in alignment: synaptic vesicles are small, round objects in the shape of spheres (means little bladder) Small synaptic vesicles contain molecules of the neurotransmitter (range from a few dozen-several hundred)

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