Communication of Synapses

• Sherrington deduced the properties of the synapse from his experiments on reflexes (an automatic muscular response to stimuli)
• Excitation of one set of muscles


  Leads to a relaxation of others
• Reflexes are slower than conduction along an axon
• Reflexes are automatic muscular responses to stimuli
• Reflex arc


  The circuit from sensory neuron to muscle response
• Several weak stimuli presented at slightly different times or locations


  Produce a stronger reflex than a single stimulus does
• Reflex arc: the circuit from sensory neuron to muscle response