How Do Neurons Communicate With Each Other?

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How Do Neurons Communicate With Each Other?

Kathryn Trochimiuk. PSN: 194.

The human body is composed of cells which are specialised to perform specific functions. Neurons, which are a type of nerve cell, are specialised for communication; information transmission and information processing. All neurons have the same basic structure and consist of a soma, dendrites and an axon. They communicate by a process called synaptic transmission which happens at a tiny gap, located at the terminal of the axon, called a synapse. The synapse consists of the two neurons, one of which is sending information to the other. The neuron which sends the information is the presynaptic neuron, while the receiving neuron is known as the postsynaptic neuron.

There is an electrical charge across a cell, which is called the membrane potential. Neurons use changes in the membrane potential to transmit messages. All body cells display this potential, but the membrane potential in nerve cells undergo momentary rapid changes. At rest the cell membrane is considered "polarized" because the interior of the cell is negative in respect to the outside; the potential is normally -70mV across the membrane. This is called the resting potential i.e. when