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Anatomy and Function of Neurons

Neurons are electrically excitable cells that communicate with other cells via synapses. They are the main component of nervous tissue in animals. There are three main types of neurons - sensory neurons that respond to stimuli, motor neurons that control muscles and glands, and interneurons that connect neurons within the same brain or spinal cord region. A typical neuron consists of a cell body, dendrites that receive signals, and a single axon that transmits signals to other cells at structures called synapses.

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17 views2 pages

Anatomy and Function of Neurons

Neurons are electrically excitable cells that communicate with other cells via synapses. They are the main component of nervous tissue in animals. There are three main types of neurons - sensory neurons that respond to stimuli, motor neurons that control muscles and glands, and interneurons that connect neurons within the same brain or spinal cord region. A typical neuron consists of a cell body, dendrites that receive signals, and a single axon that transmits signals to other cells at structures called synapses.

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ANMOL
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Neuron

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


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This article is about the type of cell. For other uses, see Neuron (disambiguation).
"Brain cell" redirects here. For other uses, see Glial cell.

Neuron

Anatomy of a multipolar neuron

Identifiers

MeSH D009474

NeuroLex ID sao1417703748

TA A14.0.00.002

TH H2.00.06.1.00002

FMA 54527

Anatomical terms of neuroanatomy

[edit on Wikidata]
Schematic of an anatomically accurate single pyramidal neuron, the primary excitatory neuron of cerebral
cortex, with a synaptic connection from an incoming axon onto a dendritic spine.

A neuron, neurone (old British spelling) or nerve cell, is an electrically


excitable cell[1] that communicates with other cells via specialized connections
called synapses. It is the main component of nervous tissue in
all animals except sponges and placozoa. Plants and fungi do not have nerve cells.
Neurons are typically classified into three types based on their function. Sensory
neurons respond to stimuli such as touch, sound, or light that affect the cells of
the sensory organs, and they send signals to the spinal cord or brain. Motor
neurons receive signals from the brain and spinal cord to control everything
from muscle contractions to glandular output. Interneurons connect neurons to other
neurons within the same region of the brain or spinal cord. A group of connected
neurons is called a neural circuit.
A typical neuron consists of a cell body (soma), dendrites, and a single axon. The
soma is usually compact. The axon and dendrites are filaments that extrude from it.
Dendrites typically branch profusely and extend a few hundred micrometers from the
soma. The axon leaves the soma at a swelling called the axon hillock, and travels for
as far as 1 meter in humans or more in other species. It branches but usually
maintains a constant diameter. At the farthest tip of the axon's branches are axon
terminals, where the neuron can transmit a signal across the synapse to another cell.
Neurons may lack dendrites or have no axon. The term neurite is used to describe
either a dendrite or an axon, particularly when the cell is undifferentiated.
Most neurons receive signals via the dendrites and soma and send out signals down
the axon. At the majority of synapses, signals cross from the axon of one neuron to a
dendrite of another. However, synapses can connect an axon to another axon or a
dendrite to another dendrite.

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