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Why is neural communication sometimes described as an "electrochemical" process?
Why is neural communication sometimes described as an "electrochemical" process? a. The action potential is chemical, and transmission across the synapse is electrical.
b. The action potential is electrical, and transmission across the synapse is chemical.
c. Action potentials are chemical events.
d. Transmission across the synapse is an electrical event.
Final answer:Neuronal communication is an electrochemical event. The action potential is electrical, and the transmission across the synapse is chemical. However, there are also specialized connections between neurons that are entirely electrical.Explanation:Neuronal communication is often referred to as an electrochemical event. The movement of the action potential down the length of the axon is an electrical event, and movement of the neurotransmitter across the synaptic space represents the chemical portion of the process.However, there are some specialized connections between neurons that are entirely electrical. In such cases, the neurons are said to communicate via an electrical synapse.In these cases, two neurons physically connect to one another via gap junctions, which allows the current from one cell to pass into the next.There are far fewer electrical synapses in the brain, but those that do exist are much faster than the chemical synapses that have been described above (Connors & Long, 2004)....