Axon Terminal

Axon Terminal

Axon terminals are distal terminations of the branches of an axon. An axon nerve fiber is a long, slender projection of a nerve cell, or neuron, that conducts electrical impulses (called "action potentials") away from the neuron's cell body, or soma, in order to transmit those impulses to other neurons.

Neurons are interconnected in complex arrangements, and use electrochemical signals and neurotransmitter chemicals to transmit impulses from one neuron to the next; axon terminals are separated from neighboring neurons by a small gap called a synapse, across which impulses are sent. The axon terminal, and the neuron to which it is attached, is sometimes referred to as the "presynaptic" neuron.