Brain in irregular patterns; other neurons are quiet most of the time, but occasionally emit a burst of action potentials. Axons transmit signals to other neurons by means of specialized junctions called synapses. A single axon may make as many as several thousand synaptic connections with other cells. When an action potential, traveling along an axon, arrives at a synapse, it causes a chemical called a neurotransmitter to be released. The neurotransmitter binds to receptor molecules in the membrane of the target cell. Synapses are the key functional elements of the brain. The essential function of the brain is cell-to-cell communication,
Electrical brain stimulation motor and sensory territories). EBS remains inextricably entwined with the work of Dr. Robert Galbraith Heath, Dr. Jose Delgado and Dr. Wilder Penfield. It's of interest that during cerebral localization studies, neurosurgeon Penfield could not elicit emotional reactions in humans, either by observing spontaneous epilepsy or by electrically stimulating the surface of the cerebral cortex. Neurophysiologist Dr. Jose Delgado noted a few exceptions to this rule. In contrast, EBS, via deeply implanted electrodes in localized areas of the brain (deep brain stimulation; DBS), elicited both pleasurable and aversive responses in laboratory animals and man as previously described. EBS could elicit