• Attention
• Hormones
• Lobes
• Long-Term Memory
• Memory
• Nervous System
• Neuroplasticity
• Neurotransmitters
• Procedural Memory
• Senses
• Synaptic Pruning
• Working Memory

When neurons communicate, they don’t actually touch. Instead, they send messages across a tiny space, or synapse, in the form of chemicals called neurotransmitters. An electrical signal travels to the end of the axon which contains special vesicles, or pouches. These vesicles contain neurotransmitters which they release into the synapse. The neurotransmitters float across the synapse and are picked up by receptors on waiting dendrites. If the neurotransmitter “fits” with the dendrite’s receptors, a new electrical impulse can be produced. But this doesn’t always happen. Some neurotransmitters actually inhibit the electrical impulse. And sometimes a neurotransmitter doesn’t create a large enough signal to cause the electrical impulse. In fact, it often takes many signals, i.e. releases of neurotransmitters, to create an electrical impulse. Scientists have identified about 60 kinds of neurotransmitters. Neurotransmitters have unique functions depending on their chemical type, what part of the brain they're activating, and the response of the receptor to the neurotransmitter.