Issue 4 (August)

The basic mechanisms that support the nervous system's operation in both invertebrates and vertebrates are impulse transmission and the body's reaction to stimuli. These mechanisms let organisms' sense changes in their internal and external surroundings, analyze the information, and start the proper behavioral or physiological reactions. For homeostasis, survival, and adaptation, impulse transmission and response to stimuli must be accurate and efficient. When a stimulus is strong enough to surpass the excitation threshold, a brief, transient change in membrane potential known as an action potential is generated, signaling the beginning of neuronal impulse transmission. This electrochemical process is initiated by the passage of ions, namely sodium (Na⁺) and potassium (K⁺) ions, across the neuronal membrane via voltage-gated ion channels. Synaptic transmission is a crucial step in impulse propagation after this. An action potential that reaches the axon terminal releases neurotransmitters into the synaptic cleft. The kind of neurotransmitter and receptor involved determines whether these chemical messengers cause excitatory or inhibitory responses when they attach themselves to certain postsynaptic membrane receptors. Complex neural networks are formed by the communication that is made possible by this synaptic activity between neurons and threshold; the start of neuronal impulse transmission is indicated by the generation of an action potential, a short, fleeting shift in membrane potential. This communication tried to talk in more details about this topic.