Practice question · Put in order
Order the events of chemical synaptic transmission.
- An action potential reaches the axon terminal.
- Neurotransmitters diffuse across and bind receptors on the next neuron.
- Vesicles release neurotransmitters into the synaptic cleft.
- The binding excites or inhibits the receiving neuron.
- Reuptake reabsorbs the leftover neurotransmitter, resetting the synapse.
Hints
- The electrical signal must arrive before any chemical is released.
- Clearing the transmitter (reuptake) is the last step, after the message has been delivered.
Show the answer
- An action potential reaches the axon terminal.
- Vesicles release neurotransmitters into the synaptic cleft.
- Neurotransmitters diffuse across and bind receptors on the next neuron.
- The binding excites or inhibits the receiving neuron.
- Reuptake reabsorbs the leftover neurotransmitter, resetting the synapse.
Why
The arriving spike triggers vesicle release; transmitter diffuses, binds receptors, excites or inhibits the next cell, and is then cleared by reuptake. Reuptake comes last because its job is to reset the synapse after the signal.
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