NROB60H3 Chapter Notes - Chapter chapter 5 HL: Inhibitory Postsynaptic Potential, Neuromuscular Junction, Chemical Synapse
13 Sep 2016
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Chapter 4 introduced action potential propagation: for this information to be processed by the rest of the nervous system. It is necessary that these neural signals be passed on to other neurons. E. g. motor neurons that control muscle contraction: as well as neurons in the brain and spinal cord that lead to a coordinated reflex response. By the end of the nineteenth century it was recognized that this transfer of information from one neuron to another occurs at specialized sites of contact: called synapses by charles sherrington. The process of information transfer at a synapse is called synaptic transmission. One hypothesis about the physical nature of synaptic transmission explained the speed of synaptic transmission: simple electrical current flowing from one neuron to the next. Existence of electrical synapses are common in the mammalian brain. Alternative hypothesis about the nature of synaptic transmission: chemical neurotransmitters transfer information from one neuron to another at the synapse.
