synapse
pronunciation
How to pronounce synapse in British English:
UK [ˈsaɪnæps]
How to pronounce synapse in American English:
US [ˈsɪnˌæps, sɪˈnæps]
-
- Noun:
- the junction between two neurons (axon-to-dendrite) or between a neuron and a muscle
Word Origin
- synapse (n.)
- "junction between two nerve cells," 1899, medical Latin, from Greek synapsis "conjunction," from or related to synaptein "to clasp, join together, tie or bind together, be connected with," from syn- "together" (see syn-) + haptein "to fasten" (see apse). Introduced by English physiologist Sir Michael Foster (1836-1907) at the suggestion of English classical scholar Arthur Woollgar Verral (1851-1912).
Example
- 1. We know the synapse but don 't know ourselves .
- 2. When incoming information reaches the synapse , glutamate is released into the gap .
- 3. An individual synapse is thought to be the minimum unit necessary to establish a memory engram .
- 4. Once a synapse is created , new information has a means to be passed on and the information is learned .
- 5. Other technological advances enable neuroscientists to visualize every axon , dendrite and synapse in a circuit using three-dimensional electron microscopy .