Editing Chemical synapse (section)

==Relationship to electrical synapses==
An [[electrical synapse]] is an electrically [[electrical conductor|conductive]] link between two abutting [[neuron]]s that is formed at a narrow gap between the pre- and postsynaptic [[cell (biology)|cell]]s, known as a [[gap junction]]. At gap junctions, cells approach within about 3.5&nbsp;[[Nanometre|nm]] of each other, rather than the 20 to 40&nbsp;nm distance that separates cells at chemical synapses.<ref>{{harvnb|Kandel|Schwartz|Jessell|2000|p=176}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Hormuzdi|Filippov|Mitropoulou|Monyer|Bruzzone|2004}}</ref> As opposed to chemical synapses, the postsynaptic potential in electrical synapses is not caused by the opening of ion channels by chemical transmitters, but rather by direct electrical coupling between both neurons. Electrical synapses are faster than chemical synapses.<ref name="KandelPrin"/> Electrical synapses are found throughout the nervous system, including in the [[retina]], the [[reticular nucleus of the thalamus]], the [[neocortex]], and in the [[hippocampus]].<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Connors BW, Long MA |title=Electrical synapses in the mammalian brain |journal=Annu. Rev. Neurosci. |volume=27 |issue= 1|pages=393–418 |year=2004 |pmid=15217338 |doi=10.1146/annurev.neuro.26.041002.131128 |url=https://zenodo.org/record/894386 }}</ref> While chemical synapses are found between both excitatory and inhibitory neurons, electrical synapses are most commonly found between smaller local inhibitory neurons.  Electrical synapses can exist between two axons, two dendrites, or between an axon and a dendrite.<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Veruki ML, Hartveit E |title=Electrical synapses mediate signal transmission in the rod pathway of the mammalian retina |journal=J. Neurosci. |volume=22 |issue=24 |pages=10558–66 |date=December 2002 |pmid=12486148|pmc=6758447 |doi=10.1523/JNEUROSCI.22-24-10558.2002 }}
</ref><ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Bennett MV, Pappas GD, Aljure E, Nakajima Y |title=Physiology and ultrastructure of electrotonic junctions. II. Spinal and medullary electromotor nuclei in mormyrid fish |journal=J. Neurophysiol. |volume=30 |issue=2 |pages=180–208 |date=March 1967 |pmid=4167209 |doi=10.1152/jn.1967.30.2.180 }}</ref>  In some [[fish]] and [[amphibian]]s, electrical synapses can be found within the same terminal of a chemical synapse, as in [[Mauthner cells]].<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Pereda AE, Rash JE, Nagy JI, Bennett MV |title=Dynamics of electrical transmission at club endings on the Mauthner cells |journal=Brain Res. Brain Res. Rev. |volume=47 |issue=1–3 |pages=227–44 |date=December 2004 |pmid=15572174 |doi=10.1016/j.brainresrev.2004.06.010 |citeseerx=10.1.1.662.9352 |s2cid=9527518 }}</ref>