What is a Receptor, Anyway?
A neuroreceptor (sometimes just called a receptor) is a location on the surface of a nerve cell (neuron) or other type of cell (e.g., a muscle cell) where a neurotransmitter reacts to cause some change in the nerve cell’s activity. This change can either be on the neuron’s potential, thus contributing to (or detracting from) its activity directly, or it can be regulatory. The directly contributing neuroreceptors typically operate very quickly, and act (and look) somewhat like an iris shutter in a camera. The neurotransmitter (for example, acetylcholine) binds to a specific area on the channel, which (due to electrostatic forces) causes the channel to snap open. Specific ions then leak into and out of the nerve cell, changing its electrical potential. Different channels allow different ions to pass; some ions (like potassium) excite the nerve cell, others (like sodium) inhibit it. Once the neurotransmitter leaves the receptor, the channel snaps shut, having done its work. These are the
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