PHYSIOL 201 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Synaptotagmin 1, Axon Terminal
Document Summary
The sum of all the inputs will determine if an action potential is occurring and the frequency. Synapses is the space between one neuron and another. Looking at the green neuron, it is presynaptic to the purple one but postsynaptic to the yellow one. Synapses can occur on axons as well (drawn by the orange line) We will talk about electric synapse later in the course. Neurons that are located completely in the central nervous system are called interneurons. Features required for a functional synapse are neurotransmitters being released from the first neuron (diffuses through the synaptic cleft) and receptors to cause an effect. Direction of transmission is only one way: affects another cell. In the axon terminal, we have membrane bound sacs called vesicles that are home to neurotransmitters and are released when the signal arrives. We also have ca+2 voltage gated channels and are opened by the arrival of the action potential (depolarization of the membrane)
