Synapse cross-talk

In most cases, mutual influences between presynaptic receptors have been explained by a cross-talk of intracellular signalling pathways. In several synapses, presynaptic actions of Ai receptors and other release-inhibitory receptors are mu-... 

Scimemi A, Fine A, Kullmann DM, Rusakov DA. NR2B-containing receptors mediate cross talk among hippocampal synapses. J Neurosci 2004 24(20) 4767-4777. 

Neurons send electrical impulses from one part of the cell to another part of the same cell via their axons, but these electrical impulses do not jump directly to other neurons. Neurons communicate by one neuron hurling a chemical messenger, or neurotransmitter, at the receptors of a second neuron. This happens frequently, but not exclusively, at the sites of synaptic connections between them (Fig. 1 — 3). Communication between neurons is therefore chemical, not electrical. That is, an electrical impulse in the first neuron is converted to a chemical signal at the synapse between it and a second neuron, in a process known as chemical neurotransmission. This occurs predominantly in one direction, from the presynaptic axon terminal, to any of a variety of sites on a second postsynaptic neuron. However, it is increasingly apparent that the postsynaptic neuron can also talk back to the presynaptic neuron with chemical messengers of its own, perhaps such as the neurotransmitter nitric oxide. The frequency and extent of such cross-communication may determine how... 

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