Neuron in Biological Definition

Cell growth

... cell body, axon and dendrites. In vertebrates , neuron size is often a reflection of the number of synaptic contacts onto the neuron or from a neuron onto other cells. For example, the size of ...

Neuron

... carries nerve signals away from the neuron. Each neuron has only one axon, but this axon may undergo ... branching arbor of cellular extensions. Each neuron has very many dendrites with profuse dendritic ... of protein synthesis. The cell body of a neuron is supported by a complex meshwork of structural ...

Synapse

... they operate. Only the so-called pre-synaptic neuron secretes the neurotransmitter, which binds to ... strong, an action potential in the pre-synaptic neuron will trigger another in the post-synaptic cell; ... potential initiation. In the brain, however, each neuron typically connects or "synapses" to many others, ...

Neurotransmitter

... electrical signals between a presynaptic and a postsynaptic neuron . A chemical is classified as a neurotransmitter if it respects the ... endogenously It is available in sufficient quantity in the presynaptic neuron to exert an effect on the postsynaptic neuron Externally administered, ...

Olfaction

... like bananas ), whereas some others cannot. Each olfactory receptor neuron in the nose expresses only one functional odor receptor. According to ... Laurent, G (2003) Intensity versus Identity Coding in an Olfactory System, neuron 39, 991-1004. Stopfer, M. and Laurent, G. (1999). Short-term memory in ...

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor

... neurons (nerve cells) via a synapse , a small gap between the cells. The neuron that sends the information releases neurotransmitters (with serotonin ... Depression has been linked to a lack of stimulation of the recipient neuron at a synapse. To stimulate the recipient cell, SSRIs inhibit the reuptake ...

Stem cell

... of motor neurons before finally differentiating into spinal motor neuron cells, the cell type that, in the human body, transmits messages from ... Su-Chun Zhang said their trial-and-error study helped them learn how motor neuron cells, which are key to the nervous system , develop in the first place. ...

Andrew Huxley

... axon of Atlantic squid ( Loligo pealei ), which enabled them to record ionic currents as they would not have been able to do in almost any other neuron , such cells being too small to study by the techniques of the time. The experiments took place at the University of Cambridge beginning in the ...

Axon

... An axon , or " nerve fiber ," is a long slender projection of a nerve cell, or " neuron ," which conducts electrical impulses away from the neuron's cell body or soma. Axons are in effect the primary transmission lines of the ...

Brain

... . Artificial brains Computer scientists have produced computer systems called neural networks that are loosely based on the structure of neuron connections in the brain. Artificial intelligence seeks to replicate brain function (although not necessarily brain mechanisms) more exactly, but ...

Cilium

... rod photoreceptor cell in the human eye is connected to its cell body with a specialized non-motile cilium. The terminal fiber of the olfactory neuron is also a non-motile cilium, where the odorant receptors locate. Almost all types of the mammalian cells have a single non-motile cilium called " ...

Dendrite

... For the crystal, see Dendrite (crystal) . In biology , a dendrite is a slender, typically branched projection of a nerve cell, or " neuron ," which conducts the electrical stimulation received from other cells to the body or soma of the cell from which it projects. This stimulation ...

Electrophysiology

... are four main types of cellular electrophysiological recordings: 1. Intracellular recording. This technique entails impaling a cell, usually a neuron , with a sharp glass electrode and recording either the currents (voltage-clamp) or the voltage (current-clamp) across the membrane. This technique ...

Magnetic resonance imaging

... to Brownian motion . In biological tissues however the diffusion is very often anisotropic . For example a molecule inside the axon of a neuron has a low probability to cross a myelin membrane. Therefore the molecule will move principally along the axis of the neural fiber. Conversely if we ...

Muscle

... is the result of complex interactions between various areas of the brain. Nerves that control skeletal muscles in mammals correspond with neuron groups along the primary motor area of the brain's cerebral cortex . Commands are routed though the basal ganglia and are modified by input from ...

Nervous system

... varies greatly among living animals. Cnidarians , such as sea anemones and jellyfish , have a nerve net , in which the activation of any one neuron triggers a wave of activation across the entire network. These waves are both afferent and efferent , representing both the sensation of chemicals ...