Synapses · ⁨突触⁩

The gaps between neurones

• Neurones don't quite touch — there's a tiny gap between them called a synapse 突触.
• How the signal crosses this gap is clever chemistry.

What a synapse is

• A synapse is the junction between two neurones.
• The electrical impulse cannot jump the gap directly.

At a synapse, neurotransmitter 神经递质 diffuses across the gap, so impulses travel one way only

Crossing the gap

• The impulse triggers the release of neurotransmitter chemicals.
• These diffuse across the gap and trigger a new impulse in the next neurone.

One-way only

• Neurotransmitters are released on one side only, so signals cross a synapse in one direction.
• This keeps impulses travelling the right way through the nervous system.

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