synapse

Table of Contents

Introduction References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics

Images

Figure 2: Organization of the autonomic nervous system.

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Small, white rat (genus Rattus) on a glass table. (rodent, laboratory, experiment)

Cruel and Unusual Punishments: 15 Types of Torture

Hemp (Cannabis sativa).

9 Mind-Altering Plants

Illustration for Demystified "How Dangerous is Quicksand"

How Deadly Is Quicksand?

Groups of depositors in front of the closed American Union Bank, New York City. April 26, 1932. Great Depression run on bank crowd

Causes of the Great Depression

Marriage. A couple getting married during a church wedding ceremony. (religion, ceremony, bride, groom)

The Seven Sacraments of the Roman Catholic church

Two chicks near an egg with a white background (poultry, chick, chickens, birds).

What Do Eggs Have to Do with Easter?

Rural Irish landscape, Sligo, Ireland.

Why Is Ireland Two Countries?

synapse: Facts & Related Content

Written and fact-checked by The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

News •

Scientists reveal advance in brain research once thought impossible • Apr. 16, 2025, 4:54 AM ET (CNN)

Facts

Also Known As	neuronal junction • synaptic junction

Photos

Figure 2: Organization of the autonomic nervous system.

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Topics

action potential postsynaptic potential resting potential synaptic cleft chemical transmission localized potential all-or-none law neuromuscular junction mobilization of the transmitter inhibitory postsynaptic potential neural stem cell ganglion central nervous system neuron human nervous system senses neuroplasticity neural oscillation

Key People

Thomas C. Südhof

German-American neuroscientist

Sir Charles Sherrington.

Sir Charles Scott Sherrington

British physiologist

Eric Kandel

Austrian-American neurobiologist