Their specific function is to allow our brains to learn, reason, and remember. The brain includes billions of neurons, so does your spinal cord and all the nerves that branch out from the spinal cord to the body's glands, organs, and muscles. Each neuron is a cell that uses biochemical reactions to receive, process and transmit information.
Each neuron may have thousands of branches that connect it to other neurons. The branches are called dendrites or axons. Dendrites are short fibers that extend from the neuron cell body which receive information from other neurons and sensory receptors. Axons, long fluid-filled tubes, carry messages away from the cell body to another neuron.
Once the information is passed through the dendrites it is received by the cell body (soma). The soma and the enclosed nucleus don't play a significant role in the processing of incoming and outgoing data. Their primary function is to perform the continuous maintenance and energy required to keep the neuron functional.
To increase neuron communication and speed, a myelin sheath is present on the axons. It also serves as a protective covering made by glial cells, which is white and fatty. Axons with myelin sheath process information up to twenty times faster than axons without the covering.
The synapse is the space between the axon of one neuron and the dendrites of the next neuron in a nerve pathway. These gaps are extremely small. Chemicals, not electrical impulses, travel across the gaps. These chemicals are neurotransmitters. There is knowledge of about fifty types of neurotransmitters, with more to be most likely discovered in the future.
Human bodies make neurotransmitters. Some of the chemical materials for neurotransmitters, like amino acids, come from the foods we eat. Altering neurotransmitters can change whether the stimulation is excitatory or inhibitory. Many drugs such as alcohol and LSD have dramatic effects on the production or destruction of these critical chemicals.
The Neuron A neuron is a cell that is located in the brain or spinal cord. ... (Toga, 2001) Its main function is to take care of all of the maintenance functions of the neuron. ... Overview of Neuronal Function: The brain functions by nerve cell circuits. ... Interneurons are when neurons in one part of the brain communicate with other neurons in other parts of the brain. ... The Neuron. ...
Neuron in Action What is the brain? ... The brain and the nervous system are the most important and complex parts of the human body. ... Their job is to regulate the internal bodily functions and coordinate the responses to the outside world. ... The nervous system contains nerve cells, or neurons (about 100 billion neurons), that coordinate the action that a person makes. The nervous system also does involuntary functions such as regulation of breathing and heart rate. ...
The Neuron A neuron is a cell that is located in the brain or spinal cord. ... (Toga, 2001) Its main function is to take care of all of the maintenance functions of the neuron. ... Overview of Neuronal Function: The brain functions by nerve cell circuits. ... The three main kinds of neurons are: sensory neurons, interneurons, and motor neurons (Gleitman, 1999). ... Interneurons are when neurons in one part of the brain communicate with other neurons in other parts of the brain. ...
Neuron in Action What is the brain? ... The brain and the nervous system are the most important and complex parts of the human body. ... Their job is to regulate the internal bodily functions and coordinate the responses to the outside world. ... The nervous system contains nerve cells, or neurons (about 100 billion neurons), that coordinate the action that a person makes. The nervous system also does involuntary functions such as regulation of breathing and heart rate. ...
Different parts of the brain are responsible for controlling movements of various parts of the body and its organs. ... Basal ganglia is responsible for multiple functions including motor control (decision making processes such as controlling and executing functions) (Carlson & Carlson, 2012). ... The activity of neurons that are located there associates with the day-night cycle (Bass & Takahashi, 2010). ... The shell region, which contains neurons that show circadian rhythms of activity, obtains a signal from neurons in the core region that reset the clock to the start of a new cycle (Bass &...
The Brain - Covering All Parts- INTRODUCTION The human body is divided into many different parts called organs. ... The brain flashes messages out to all the other parts of the body. ... It is mainly made up of cell bodies of neurons called grey matter. ... The cerebellum is involved with the more complex functions of the brain and sometimes is even referred to as "the brain within the brain". ... brainstem: This is what the brain had used to be early evolution, but now it only controls our basic functions such as breathing and heart rate. ...
