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Fast vs Slow Synapse: Ionotropic vs Metabotropic Signaling

Fire the same synapse two ways: a ligand-gated ion channel that opens in milliseconds, and a G-protein-coupled receptor cascade that takes hundreds of milliseconds to build but amplifies the signal thousands-fold. Watch both postsynaptic responses race in real time.

Neuroscience & Biophysics3DModerate60 FPS📱 Mobile-adapted⇄ 2D version

The same neurotransmitter released from the same presynaptic terminal produces two very different postsynaptic responses depending on which receptor family catches it. This simulator renders a 3D 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 the cascade's amplification gain and decay time, and watch a live strip-chart trace the millisecond ionotropic EPSP against the slow-building, thousands-fold-amplified metabotropic cAMP signal.

⚙ Under the hood

Fire the same synapse two ways in 3D: a ligand-gated ion channel that opens in milliseconds, and a G-protein-coupled receptor cascade that ramps up over hundreds of milliseconds while amplifying the signal thousands-fold. Live readouts and a strip-chart trace compare both postsynaptic responses in real time.

neurosciencesynapseion channelGPCRsecond messengersignal transduction

3D · Three.js / WebGL renderer · 60 FPS target · runs fully client-side, no install