How do chemical and electrical communications differ from one another? Specifically in regards to living organisms, i.e. humans.

Question

It is my understanding that life forms use both chemical and electrical signals to communicate. I know chemistry is elements forming compounds through electrical bonds, and therefore electrical in a sense. But just because a copper wire has electrical bonds in its chemistry that’s not the same as when a current is sent through the wire.

What I’d like to understand is how do livings organism us chemical communication and electrical communication and how are they different?

In depth responses are appreciated.

In: Biology

Answer 1

Very good question. The human body utilizes both chemical and electrical signaling extensively. One type of cell that uses both is prolific throughout your nervous system: the neuron.

The neuron uses chemical signalling via neurotransmitters. These in turn affect various gates and change the amount of “stuff” that’s let into the cell.

Now what you have to understand is that current fundamentally is just a movement of charged particles. Voltage is a difference in potential, so it is in turn a difference in concentration of these charged particles. Your body is full of these, and notably Na+ (Sodium) and K+ (Potassium) are let in when a neuron is ready to send out a signal, or action potential.

So, a neurotransmitter is a chemical, which opens a gate in a cell. This gate then lets in ions, which are sitting in the fluid around the cell, thus generating a current as they rush in, and changing the voltage inside the cell (the difference in charged particles from the outside to the inside). Once this voltage hits a certain amount, the neuron releases an action potential, which is essentially a rapid rise in voltage across the cell membrane as it lets in more and more ions as the sodium channels are opened up. This current is carried along the neuron’s body, and propagates through its axon. Propagation essentially consists of a series of cell membranes being charged and depolarizing as the ions travel through, changing their voltage.

So to summarize, at the end of the day electricity is just created by a movement of ions. In the human body, this is regulated through chemical processes. I have to leave now, so I had to hurry up this response, but I’ll look to clarify it later. Feel free to ask any questions!