What are pre-synaptic and post-synaptic spikes?

A pre-synaptic spike is like a message being sent from one brain cell to another, and a post-synaptic spike is how that message is received by the next brain cell.

Imagine you're playing with building blocks. Each block represents a brain cell, or neuron. When one block gets a little push (like a tap on its side), it starts wobbling, this is like a spike. The block that got tapped is the pre-synaptic neuron, because it’s sending out the message.

Now imagine there's another block right next to it, and when the first block wobbles, it knocks into the second one, making it wobble too! That second block is the post-synaptic neuron, because it’s receiving the message. The tap that makes the second block wobble is like a spike on its side.

So, just like how tapping one building block can make another one wobble, a pre-synaptic spike causes a post-synaptic spike, and that's how brain cells talk to each other!

If you’ve ever pushed someone on a swing, you know how it feels when your push makes them go higher. That’s kind of like what happens with spikes: one little nudge (the pre-synaptic spike) can make the next person (or brain cell) move, that's the post-synaptic spike!