Editing Electrical synapse (section)

==Structure==
Each gap junction (sometimes called a ''nexus'') contains numerous gap junction [[ion channel|channel]]s that cross the [[cell membrane|plasma membranes]] of both cells.<ref name=Gibson05>{{cite journal |vauthors=Gibson JR, Beierlein M, Connors BW |title=Functional properties of electrical synapses between inhibitory interneurons of neocortical layer 4 |journal=J. Neurophysiol. |volume=93 |issue=1 |pages=467–80 |date=January 2005 |pmid=15317837 |doi=10.1152/jn.00520.2004 }}</ref>  With a lumen diameter of about 1.2 to 2.0&nbsp;nm,<ref name=Hormuzdi04/><ref name=Bennet04>{{cite journal |doi=10.1016/S0896-6273(04)00043-1 |vauthors=Bennett MV, Zukin RS |title=Electrical coupling and neuronal synchronization in the Mammalian brain |journal=Neuron |volume=41 |issue=4 |pages=495–511 |date=February 2004 |pmid=14980200 |s2cid=18566176 |doi-access=free }}</ref> the pore of a gap junction channel is wide enough to allow ions and even medium-size molecules like signaling molecules to flow from one cell to the next,<ref name=Hormuzdi04/><ref>{{harvnb|Kandel|Schwartz|Jessell|2000|pp=178–180}}</ref> thereby connecting the two cells' [[cytoplasm]].  Thus when the [[membrane potential]] of one cell changes, [[ion]]s may move through from one cell to the next, carrying positive charge with them and depolarizing the postsynaptic cell.

Gap junction channels are composed of two hemichannels called [[connexon]]s in vertebrates, one contributed by each cell at the [[synapse]].<ref name=Hormuzdi04/><ref name=Bennet04/><ref>{{harvnb|Kandel|Schwartz|Jessell|2000|p=178}}</ref>  Connexons are formed by six 7.5&nbsp;nm long, four-pass membrane-spanning [[protein]] subunits called [[connexin]]s, which may be identical or slightly different from one another.<ref name=Bennet04/>

An [[autapse]] is an electrical (or chemical) synapse formed when the axon of one neuron synapses with its own dendrites.