18x24” acrylic painting by the artist Dr. Kathleen Sluka. Neurons communicate through synapses by sending excitatory and inhibitory signals. Perfect gift for your favorite biologist, neuroscientist, neurologist or neurosurgeon.

Original painting will be shipped by UPS.

Description: Synapses receive input from both excitatory, in red, and inhibitory, in blue, neurons and add the signals up to determine whether they will send a signal to the next neuron. If there are more excitatory inputs the neuron fires an electrical signal. Chemicals, called neurotransmitters, are contained in vesicles at the synapse (shown as round colored circles)-presynaptic terminal. These chemicals diffuse across to the other neuron to bind receptors that then convert the chemical signal to an electrical current that travel along axons (round circles in black).