system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
What keeps the axion terminal and dendrite of a synapse aligned? diagrams and explanations always show them as free floating, so what stops them from drifting apart?
gpt
There are proteins in each that bind to each other, neuroligins and neurexins. Like holding lots of tiny hands. The dendritic part will have neuroligins, the axon neurexins and both cross through the cell membrane into the synaptic spalt and hold hands here.