a specialized region of a muscle-cell membrane that faces the terminus of a motor neuron within a neuromuscular junction. The depolarization that is induced in this muscular region when stimulated by a neurotransmitter released from the adjacent motor neuron terminus is called the end-plate potential (EPP). A very small variation in this potential due to the random release of tiny amounts of a neurotransmitter at an axon terminal is called a miniature end-plate potential. Also called motor end plate.