Nerve synapse 插畫檔

A synapse, the junction between two nerve cells. Other nerve cell bodies are present. Synapses transmit electrical signals from one nerve cell to the next. When an electrical signal reaches a synapse it triggers the release of chemicals called neurotransmitters (blue spheres) from vesicles (pink) in the terminal swelling of the presynaptic cell. The vesicles burst through the membrane, and neurotransmitters cross a microscopic gap called the synaptic cleft, and bind to the receptor nerve cell. The neurotransmitter changes the permeability of the postsynaptic membrane, causing it to propagate an electrical impulse.