Chapter 41.4, Problem 2C

Summary Introduction

To sketch: The sequence of events that take place in the chemical synapse.

Introduction: Signal transduction is possible because of specialized nerve cells called neurons. Neurons are made up of receiver units which receive signals called dendrites and sender units which send the information outside the neurons. The signal travels as a wave of depolarization along the membrane of the neuron. In the case of myelinated neurons, it jumps to the nodes by saltatory conduction. However, neurons are not physically joined together, so at the neuron, the junction signal is transmitted by a special mechanism known as a synapse.