Synaptic potential

High school (ages 12+)
Human Body

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/synaptic-potential

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the key neurotransmitters involved?Excitatory: Glutamate, Acetylcholine. Inhibitory: GABA, Glycine
2. How does a synaptic potential make a neuron more or less likely to fire?If the messenger lets positive ions in, the neuron becomes a little less negative (depolarizes) and moves closer to firing. If it lets negative ions in or positive ions out, the neuron becomes more negative (hyperpolarizes) and moves farther from firing.
3. Why are some synaptic potentials called excitatory and others inhibitory?Excitatory potentials bring the neuron closer to firing, while inhibitory potentials push it further away. The type depends on which chemical messenger and receptor are involved.

Depolarization: A decrease in the membrane potential, making it less negative and closer to the firing threshold.
Hyperpolarization: An increase in the membrane potential, making it more negative and further from the firing threshold.
Action Potential Threshold: The critical level of membrane depolarization required to trigger an action potential.