Final answer:
Neurotransmitter release occurs when an action potential travels down the motor neuron's axon, resulting in an influx of calcium and the release of neurotransmitter into the synaptic cleft. This causes depolarization of the target cell membrane and initiates an action potential.
Step-by-step explanation:
Neurotransmitter release occurs when an action potential travels down the motor neuron's axon, resulting in altered permeability of the synaptic terminal membrane and an influx of calcium. The Ca²+ ions allow synaptic vesicles to move to and bind with the presynaptic membrane (on the neuron), and release neurotransmitter from the vesicles into the synaptic cleft.
Once released by the synaptic terminal, ACh diffuses across the synaptic cleft to the motor end plate, where it binds with ACh receptors. As a neurotransmitter binds, these ion channels open, and Nations cross the membrane into the muscle cell.
This reduces the voltage difference between the inside and outside of the cell, which is called depolarization. As ACh binds at the motor end plate, this depolarization is called an end-plate potential. The depolarization then spreads along the sarcolemma, creating an action potential as sodium channels adjacent to the initial depolarization site sense the change in voltage and open. The action potential moves across the entire cell, creating a wave of depolarization.