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Clearing the Synapse

After a neurotransmitter delivers its message, it has to be removed from the gap, or the signal would never end. Pick a way of cleaning up, press Release, and watch where the molecules go.

In the gap: 0

Simplified model, not to scale: the real gap is only about 20 nm wide, and clearance takes milliseconds.

Clean-up method

Drug

Embed: <iframe src="https://nelurad.github.io/neurosims/clearance/" width="100%" height="1000" style="border:0" title="Clearing the Synapse"></iframe>

Background reading

  • Purves, D., et al. (Eds.). Neuroscience. Oxford University Press / Sinauer.
  • Bear, M. F., Connors, B. W., & Paradiso, M. A. Neuroscience: Exploring the Brain. Wolters Kluwer.