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FIGURE 12.
FIGURE 11.
Synapse
Figure 12 sketches a synaptic junction. The afferent axon (Ax), along which
the pulses travel, terminates in an end bulb (EB), which is separated from
the spine (sp) of a dendrite (D) of the target neuron by a minute gap (sy),
the “synaptic gap.” (Note the many spines that cause the rugged appear-
ance of the dendrites in Fig. 10). The chemical composition of the “trans-
mitter substances”filling the synaptic gap is crucial in determining the effect
an arriving pulse may have on the ultimate response of the neuron: Under
certain circumstances it may produce an “inhibitory effect” (cancellation of
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