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They let calcium ions in, which cause neurotransmitters to be released into a synapse, which cause a neural impulse to flow down a dendrite toward the axon hillock, where the action potential is generated.

In more detail:
The first steps occur in an axon terminal, which is where the calcium channels are located.
When calcium channels are caused to open by the arrival of an action potential at an axon terminal, calcium ions enter the axon terminal, where the calcium ions bind to vesicles containing neurotransmitters, which causes the vesicles to fuse to the cell membrane, forming an opening through which the neurotransmitters are released into the synaptic cleft.

The neurotransmitters diffuse quickly across the synaptic cleft (the gap between two neurons), where they fit into receptors on the surface of the postsynaptic neuron, usually on a dendrite or a dendritic spine, and cause ligand-gated sodium ion pores to open, allowing sodium ions into the postsynaptic neuron, which causes an electrotonic impulse to travel down a dendrite, across the soma, to the axon hillock, where the impulses are summed up, and if a sufficient voltage potential is realized, an action potential is initiated in the initial segment of the axon.
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What is the fast rising phase of the SA node action potential is due to?

The fast rising phase of the SA node action potential is due to the opening of voltage-gated calcium channels. This allows an influx of calcium ions into the cell, leading to depolarization and initiation of an action potential.


What ions are important in muscle contraction and impulse conduction as an action potential reaches a synapse?

In muscle contraction and impulse conduction, important ions include calcium (Ca2+), sodium (Na+), and potassium (K+). Calcium plays a key role in triggering muscle contraction by binding to troponin, sodium influx starts the action potential at the synapse, while potassium efflux helps repolarize the membrane after the action potential passes.


What causes the rapid change in the resting membranes potential that initiates an action potential?

In muscle cells the inward current is a sodium + calcium flow through acetycholine activated channels as well as through voltage sensitive calcium channels.


What causes calcium channels in the synaptic knob to open?

depolarization of the presynaptic membrane due to an arriving action potential


What is the role of CA2 plus in action potential?

Calcium ions (Ca²⁺) play a crucial role in the generation and propagation of action potentials, particularly in neurons and muscle cells. When an action potential reaches the axon terminal or the sarcolemma, voltage-gated calcium channels open, allowing Ca²⁺ to flow into the cell. This influx of calcium triggers the release of neurotransmitters in neurons and initiates muscle contraction in muscle cells. Additionally, calcium is involved in the repolarization phase of the action potential by influencing various ion channels and signaling pathways.

Related Questions

Does a stimulus traveling toward a synapse appear to open calcium ion channels in the axon terminal?

Yes, a stimulus triggers the opening of voltage-gated calcium channels in the axon terminal. When activated by an action potential, these channels allow calcium ions to enter the axon terminal, which then triggers the release of neurotransmitters into the synaptic cleft.


What happens when an impulse reaches the synapse?

When the action potential reaches the end of an axon, it causes special chemical messages called neurotransmitters to be released across the space between the neurons (the synapse).


What is the fast rising phase of the SA node action potential is due to?

The fast rising phase of the SA node action potential is due to the opening of voltage-gated calcium channels. This allows an influx of calcium ions into the cell, leading to depolarization and initiation of an action potential.


When an action potential arrives at the axon terminal of motor neuron which ion channels open?

voltage-gated calcium channels


What ions are important in muscle contraction and impulse conduction as an action potential reaches a synapse?

In muscle contraction and impulse conduction, important ions include calcium (Ca2+), sodium (Na+), and potassium (K+). Calcium plays a key role in triggering muscle contraction by binding to troponin, sodium influx starts the action potential at the synapse, while potassium efflux helps repolarize the membrane after the action potential passes.


What is the relationship between the action potential and the synapse?

A synapse and an action potential have a flip-flopping cause and effect relationship, in that an action potential in a presynaptic neuron initiates a release of neurotransmitters across a synapse, which can then subsequently potentially trigger an action potential in the axon of the postsynaptic neuron, which would then cause release of neurotransmitters across a following synapse.


What causes the rapid change in the resting membranes potential that initiates an action potential?

In muscle cells the inward current is a sodium + calcium flow through acetycholine activated channels as well as through voltage sensitive calcium channels.


How does information travel through synapse?

When an action potential reaches the end of a neuron, it triggers the release of neurotransmitters into the synapse. These neurotransmitters then bind to receptors on the receiving neuron, causing ion channels to open and allowing ions to flow in, which generates a new action potential in the receiving neuron, thus continuing the signal.


What causes calcium channels in the synaptic knob to open?

depolarization of the presynaptic membrane due to an arriving action potential


What type of ion channels does an actions potential in the axon terminal of a motor neuron open?

Voltage-gated calcium channels are the ion channels that open during an action potential in the axon terminal of a motor neuron. These channels allow calcium ions to flow into the terminal, triggering the release of neurotransmitters into the synaptic cleft.


Function membrane receptor at chemical synapse?

Membrane receptors at a synapse are ligand-gated ion channels that open and allow sodium ions to flow into the neuron upon binding of the neurotransmitter ligand to generate an action potential in the neuron.


What transfers the nerve impulse from one neuron to another cell at the synapse?

When the sodium ions that entered the cell through the ion channels diffuse into the axon terminal of the neuron, they activate voltage-gated calcium ion channels. As calcium ions flow into the cell, neurotransmitters are released from the cell. These neurotransmitters diffuse across the synapse and activate sodium ion channels in the post-synaptic cell, allowing sodium to flow in and depolarize the cell enough to start another action potential.