How does the nervous system help us respond? - OCR 21st CenturySynapses
Survival of an organism depends on its ability to respond to changes in the environment. The nervous system allows fast acting but short lived responses.
Where two neurons meet there is a small gap called a synapseA tiny gap at the junction between two nerve cells, which nerve signals must cross..
An electrical impulse cannot directly cross the gap so a different mechanism has to be used.
An electrical nerve impulse travels along the first axon.
When the nerve impulse reaches the dendriteSmall extensions found on the end of dendrons that connect one neuron to another. at the end of the axon, chemical messengers called neurotransmitterChemical involved in passing nerve impulses from one nerve cell to the next across a synapse. are released.
These chemicals diffuseWhen particles spread out from a region of higher concentration to a region of lower concentration. across the synapse (the gap between the two neurons). The chemicals bind with receptor molecules on the membrane of the second neuron.
The receptor molecules on the second neuron can only bind to the specific neurotransmitters released from the first neuron.
The binding of neurotransmitter to the receptors stimulates the second neuron to transmit an electrical impulse along its axonThe long part of a nerve cell along which the electrical signal quickly moves.. The signal therefore has been carried from one neuron to the next.