What is the meaning of excitatory and inhibitory?

An excitatory transmitter promotes the generation of an electrical signal called an action potential in the receiving neuron, while an inhibitory transmitter prevents it. Whether a neurotransmitter is excitatory or inhibitory depends on the receptor it binds to.

What is an inhibitory connection?

A simple way for the inhibitory connection to work is for each lip to inhibit the other by an amount that is positively related to its distance from a resting position, assumed here to be where the lips are comfortably apart.

What is a metaphor for a neuron?

A useful analogy is to think of a neuron as a tree. A neuron has three main parts: dendrites, an axon, and a cell body or soma (see image below), which can be represented as the branches, roots and trunk of a tree, respectively. A dendrite (tree branch) is where a neuron receives input from other cells.

What is an analogy for the neurotransmitter and the receptor?

As an analogy – think of sending a package. The neurons are processing centers the package goes through on the way to its destination, and the neurotransmitters are the trucks that drive it from shipping source to processing center(s) to its final destination.

What is an excitatory state?

the localized increase in negative potential on the surface of a neuron in response to stimulation below threshold level, which results in temporarily increased neural irritability. Also called local excitatory potential.

What is myelin like metaphor?

Unmyelinated gaps between adjacent ensheathed regions of the axon are called Nodes of Ranvier, and are critical to fast transmission of action potentials, in what is termed “saltatory conduction.” A useful analogy is that if the axon itself is like an electrical wire, myelin is like insulation that surrounds it.

What is an analogy for action potential?

An action potential is analogous to the explosion at any point, and such an explosion can illustrate positive feedback, thresh- old, and the all-or-none property of an action potential.

What are inhibitory neurotransmitters?

Inhibitory. Inhibitory neurotransmitters block or prevent the chemical message from being passed along any farther. Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), glycine and serotonin are examples of inhibitory neurotransmitters.

What is the difference between excitatory and inhibitory neurons?

Definition. Excitatory neurons are neurons that release neurotransmitters to make the post-synaptic neuron generate an action potential while inhibitory neurons are neurons that release neurotransmitters to make the post-synaptic neuron less-likely to generate an action potential.