It takes just a few milliseconds: A vesicle, only a few nanometers in size and filled with neurotransmitters, approaches a cell membrane, fuses with it, and releases its chemical messengers into the ...

(1) A nerve impulse arrives. (2) This causes calcium ion channels to open, resulting in an influx of calcium ions in the terminal. (3) This causes synaptic vesicles to fuse with the terminal membrane, ...

Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases are the two most common neurodegenerative disorders, affecting millions of people worldwide. Published in the Journal of Neuroscience, new research from the ...

This original animation illustrates that presynaptic neurons secrete VLK, which then phosphorylates the extracellular side of ephrin type-B receptor 2 (EphB2) extruding from the membranes of ...

Interactions of two voltage-gated calcium channels and a pump enable separate control of exocytosis and endocytosis at chemical synapses. Chemical synapses transmit information within the nervous ...