Page 178 - The Miracle of Hormones

THE MIRACLE OF HORMONES

Design in the Synapses

The communication between two neurons happens between con-
nective points called "synapses" located on the ends of the axon termi-
nals. Just as a telephone central allows many people to communicate
with one another at the same time, in a similar way, a neuron can com-
municate with several neurons currently through the synapses. Hun-
dreds of millions of telephone conversations can be made in the world at
the same time. Compared with this, it is estimated that there are one
quadrillion synapses in the human brain, all which add up to
1,000,000,000,000,000 communications. This extraordinary communica-
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tion is an important factor that has led scientists to refer to the brain as
"the most complex structure in the known universe." 65
We can also say this in another way: a typical nerve cell in the
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human brain, for example, harbors tens of thousands of synapses. This
means that one neuron can establish a connection at the same time with
tens of thousands of different nerve cells. Imagine the difficulty you
would have talking on two telephones at the same time; this feat by one
nerve cell of tens of thousands of simultaneous connections is an exam-
ple of a marvelous creation.

Hundreds of millions
of telephone calls can
be made every moment
throughout the world.
Despite this, in the
brain of one individual
one quadrillion
(1,000,000,000,000,000)
communications can
occur simultaneously.

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