One critical feature of this form of communication is that the synapse has the capacity not just to excite the neuron to fire—as in the example above—but it can also be an inhibitory synapse, making the next neuron less prone to excitation. A single neuron can thus have positive inputs and negative inputs from other neurons. Its job is to “integrate” these inputs. It is the integrated total of these excitatory and inhibitory inputs that determines whether a neuron will fire or not.
