How can a neurotransmitter be inhibitory at one synapse and excitatory at another?

Sometimes neurotransmitters can bind to receptors and cause an electrical signal to be transmitted down the cell (excitatory). In other cases, the neurotransmitter can actually block the signal from continuing, preventing the message from being carried on (inhibitory).

Can a synapse be both inhibitory and excitatory?

As such, precise control mechanisms must exist to maintain an appropriate balance between each synapse type. Recent findings indicate that neuroligins and their synaptic binding partners modulate the development of both excitatory and inhibitory synapses.

What causes a neurotransmitter to be excitatory or inhibitory?

Whether a neurotransmitter is excitatory or inhibitory depends on the receptor it binds to. Neuromodulators are a bit different, as they are not restricted to the synaptic cleft between two neurons, and so can affect large numbers of neurons at once.

How can acetylcholine be excitatory and inhibitory?

The neurotransmitter acetylcholine is excitatory at the neuromuscular junction in skeletal muscle, causing the muscle to contract. In contrast, it is inhibitory in the heart, where it slows heart rate.

Are synapses either inhibitory or excitatory?

A neuron has two synapses onto two different dendrites, both of which are excitatory. Neither synapse produces a large enough excitatory postsynaptic potential, EPSP, when it signals to generate an action potential at the hillock— the place where the axon joins the cell body and where the action potential is initiated.

How are excitatory synapses different from inhibitory synapses?

Synapses are junctions that allow a neuron to electrically or chemically transmit a signal to another cell. Inhibitory synapses decrease the likelihood of the firing action potential of a cell while excitatory synapses increase its likelihood. Excitatory synapses cause a positive action potential in neurons and cells.

When a neurotransmitter reaches an excitatory synapse?

When neurotransmitters reach the postsynaptic neuron of an excitatory synapse, these molecules can bind to two possible types of receptors that are clustered in a protein-rich portion of the postsynaptic cytoskeleton called the Postsynaptic density (PSD).

What is the difference between an excitatory synapse and an inhibitory synapse?