An inhibitory postsynaptic potential (IPSP) is a synaptic potential that decreases the chance that a future action potential will occur in a postsynaptic neuron or α-motoneuron. Purves et al. Neuroscience. 4th ed. Sunderland (MA): Sinauer Associates, Incorporated; 2008. The opposite of an inhibitory postsynaptic potential is an excitatory postsynaptic potential (EPSP), which is a synaptic action that instead increases the probability of the occurrence of a future action potential. They can take place at all chemical synapses which use the secretion of neurotransmitters to create cell to cell signaling. Inhibitory presynaptic neurons release neurotransmitters which then bind to the postsynaptic receptors; this induces a postsynaptic conductance change as ion channels open or close. An electrical current is generated which changes the postsynaptic membrane potential to create a more negative postsynaptic potential. Depolarization can also occur due to an IPSP if the reverse potential is between the resting threshold and the action potential threshold. Another way to look at inhibitory postsynaptic potentials is that they are also a chlorine conductance change in the neuronal cell because it decreases the driving force. Microelectrodes can be used to measure postsynaptic potentials at either excitatory or inhibitory synapses.

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