Fast vs Slow Synapse (2D): Ionotropic vs Metabotropic Signaling

The same neurotransmitter released from the same presynaptic terminal produces two very different postsynaptic responses depending on which receptor family catches it. This 2D cross-section renders a synaptic cleft with both receptor types side by side: a ligand-gated ion channel that opens directly and briefly, and a G-protein-coupled receptor that triggers a multi-step second-messenger cascade. Fire single pulses or auto-fire a train, tune six kinetic parameters — vesicle load, fire rate, ionotropic decay, cascade gain, receptor occupancy time and cAMP clearance — and watch a live strip-chart trace the millisecond ionotropic EPSP against the slow-building, thousands-fold-amplified metabotropic cAMP signal. Drag or scroll the diagram to pan and zoom the cleft like a microscope stage.