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Anatomy & Physiology · Chapter 12

The Synapse

Neurons don't quite touch — they talk across a tiny gap using chemical messengers. An electrical signal becomes a chemical one, then electrical again in the next cell. Step through the handoff.

The signal arrives

The synapsestep 1 of 5
📷 Reference image
A real labeled figure to compare with the interactive above.
The Synapse reference figure
The Synapse — Young, KA., Wise, JA., DeSaix, P., Kruse, DH., Poe, B., Johnson, E., Johnson, JE., Korol, O., Betts, JG., & Womble, M., CC BY 4.0 (via Wikimedia Commons)