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Encyclopedia of Neuroscience pp 3208–3211Cite as

Postsynaptic Potential

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Definition

At chemical synapses, transmitter molecules are released from presynaptic terminals to the synaptic cleft or extracellular space as the mediator of transmission, and bind to receptors located on the membrane surface of postsynaptic cells. Binding of transmitters often give rise to transient change in the membrane potential of the postsynaptic cells, which is referred to as postsynaptic potentials (Fig. 1) [1–5]. In the case of electrical synapses [6], electric current flows directly from one cell to the other as the mediator of transmission, and causes a change in membrane potential. Although this can also be referred to as postsynaptic potential, the term “postsynaptic” is conditional, because the electrical synapses are bidirectional. Hence, this term is used mostly for chemical synapses.

Postsynaptic Potential. Figure 1
figure 1647

Various postsynaptic potentials generated in frog sympathetic ganglion neurons. a: fast EPSP induced by stimulating preganglionic fibers. This potential...

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References

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Cellular Neurobiology, School of Life Sciences, Tokyo University of Pharmacy and Life Sciences, Tokyo, Japan

    Miyakawa &  Hiroyoshi

Authors
  1. Miyakawa
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  2. Hiroyoshi
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physiology & Biophysics, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, Washington, USA

    Marc D. Binder

  2. Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy, Graduate School of Medicine University of Tokyo Hongo, Bunkyo‐ku, Tokyo, Japan

    Nobutaka Hirokawa

  3. Göttingen, Germany

    Uwe Windhorst

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Miyakawa, Hiroyoshi (2009). Postsynaptic Potential. In: Binder, M.D., Hirokawa, N., Windhorst, U. (eds) Encyclopedia of Neuroscience. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-29678-2_4702

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