Question

Impulse transmission across chemical synapse is _________ across an electrical synapse.

• A. faster than that
• B. slower than that
• C. equal to that
• D. none of the above

Answer 1

The correct option is B slower than that

A nerve impulse is transmitted from one neuron to another through junctions called synapses. A synapse is formed by the membranes of a pre-synaptic neuron and a post-synaptic neuron, which may or may not be separated by a gap called synaptic cleft. There are two types of synapses, namely, electrical synapses and chemical synapses.

In chemical synapses, the synaptic cleft is 10-20 nm wide and impulse transmission across these synapses need receptors.
In electrical synapses, the synaptic cleft is only 0.2 nm. Hence impulse transmission across chemical synapse is slower than that across an electrical synapse.