Mechanism of anoxic depolarization in the brain intracellular Na and Ca ions, and extracellular glutamate and aspartate. Glutamate and aspartate are normally present as the brain's primary excitatory neurotransmitters, but high concentrations activate a number of downstream apoptotic and necrotic pathways. This results in neuronal dysfunction and death. Neurons function in the central nervous system by generating signals from synapses, and this only works in the proper chemical environment. An electrical signal is mediated by the sodium channels and leaky potassium channels in which intracellular K ion concentration is higher than its corresponding extracellular concentration, whereas extracellular concentrations of Na, Ca, and Cl ions are higher than
Action potential potential. Their joint efforts can be thwarted, however, by the counteracting inhibitory postsynaptic potentials. Neurotransmission can also occur through electrical synapses. Due to the direct connection between excitable cells in the form of gap junctions, an action potential can be transmitted directly from one cell to the next in either direction. The free flow of ions between cells enables rapid non-chemical-mediated transmission. Rectifying channels ensure that action potentials move only in one direction through an electrical synapse. Electrical synapses are found in all nervous systems, including the human brain, although they are a distinct minority. The amplitude of an action