How Neurons Communicate Free Essays

Neurons are the specialized cells which make up the body’s nervous system. These nerve cells process and transmit information from one part of the body to another. For example, if you were to touch a candle flame for more than an instant, pain nerves also known as receptors that are in your finger would send a message up through your hand and arm to the spinal cord and then to the brain. We will write a custom essay sample on How Neurons Communicate or any similar topic only for you Order Now The brain which in turn records pain and sends the messages back down to various parts of the body. You will the say â€Å"ouch† which is then followed by the body or hand jerking away from the flame as pain will be felt as this reaction is caused by the message which was sent through the brain. This all happens in milliseconds. Much of the brain is made up of highly specialized neurons. They interact to control the five senses, thought, mood and motion.Within the nervous system a process to which the neurons in the body communicate is called Chemical synapses which is a specialized junctions through which neurons signal to each other and to non-neuronal cells such as those in muscles or glands seeing as the flow of information around the brainis achieved by electrical activity. Chemical synapses allow neurons to form circuits within the central nervous system.They play a crucial role to the biological computations that underlie perception and thought as neurons communicate in structures called synapses where neurons send and receive information. The sending neuron is known as the pre-synaptic neuron (which is before the synapse )and the receiving neuron is known as the post-synaptic(after the synapse) which is in the synapse transmission process. So in other words the synapse consist of two neurons, one of which is sending information to the other. They allow the nervous system to connect to and control other systems of the body. At a chemical synapse, one neuron releases a neurotransmitter into a small space (the synapse) that is adjacent to another neuron. Neurotransmitters must then be cleared out of the synapse efficiently so that the synapse can be ready to function again as soon as possible. How to cite How Neurons Communicate, Papers