synapses

     

Chemical synapses are specialize junctions through which neurons signal to each other and to non-neuronal cells such as those in muscles or glands. Chemical synapses allow neurons to form interconnected circuits within the central nervous system. They are thus crucial to the biological computations that underlie perception and thought. They provide the means through which the nervous system connects to and controls the other systems of the body, for example the specialized synapse between a motor neuron and a muscle cell is called a neuromuscular junction.

Trivia about synapses

  • In the nervous system, this is the term for the gap between axons & dendrites
  • To move messages around the brain, chemicals called neurotransmitters jump these 1/10,000,000-inch gaps
  • (Cheryl of the Clue Crew reads the clue after hitting Jon on the knee with a small mallet.) The knee jerk reflex involves just one of these connection sites between neurons; most, like the blink reflex, use more than one
  • Hopefully, these connections between your nerve cells aren't misfiring at the moment
  • The human brain has billions of connections across these gaps between neurons

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