The space between a sending neuron’s (nerve cell) axon terminal and the receiving nerve cell’s dendrite receptor or the receptor on a muscle cell. The transmission of a signal from the sending cell is carried out by the release of a neurotransmitter that crosses the cleft to the receiving cell. The space is estimated at 10 to 20 nanometers across. A nanometer is one billionth of a meter. It is also call the synaptic gap.
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