Feb 19, 2014
Neurons communicate with each other through synapses, by releasing neurotransmitters. These have one of two effects on the cell body of the target neuron:
Depolarisation: resting membrane potential reduced by a few mV & increasing the likelihood that the neuron will fire.
Hyperpolarisation: resting membrane potential increased by a few mV & decreasing the likelihood that the neuron will fire.
These signals come in two forms: temporal summation (several impulses from one neuron over time) or spatial summation (several impulses from different neurons at the same time).