Chemical synapse cells, known as a gap junction. At gap junctions, cells approach within about 3.5 nm of each other, rather than the 20 to 40 nm distance that separates cells at chemical synapses. As opposed to chemical synapses, the postsynaptic potential in electrical synapses is not caused by the opening of ion channels by chemical transmitters, but rather by direct electrical coupling between both neurons. Electrical synapses are faster than chemical synapses. Electrical synapses are found throughout the nervous system, including in the retina, the reticular nucleus of the thalamus, the neocortex, and in the hippocampus. While chemical synapses are found
Bioelectricity respectively, through the cytoplasm and interstitial fluids (conductors), generating measurable electric currents – net ion fluxes – and fields. Some ions (such as calcium) and molecules (such as hydrogen peroxide) modulate targeted translocators to produce a current or to enhance, mitigate or even reverse an initial current, being switchers. Endogenous bioelectric signals are produced in cells by the cumulative action of ion channels, pumps, and transporters. In non-excitable cells, the resting potential across the plasma membrane (Vmem) of individual cells propagate across distances via electrical synapses known as gap junctions (conductors), which allow cells to share their resting potential with