"The neuron is the main component of nervous tissue in all animals except sponges and placozoa."
Cells in the nervous system that transmit information.
Anatomy of a Neuron: This topic deals with the structure and functions of neurons including the soma, dendrites, axon, synapses, and myelin.
Neurotransmitters: These are chemicals that neurons use to transmit signals across synapses. Common neurotransmitters include dopamine, serotonin, and acetylcholine.
Action Potential: This refers to the change in electrical potential that occurs when a neuron is triggered, which leads to the release of neurotransmitters.
Types of Neurons: There are three main types of neurons: sensory (afferent), motor (efferent), and interneurons. Each of these types plays a different role in the nervous system.
Neural Circuitry: This topic deals with how neurons are connected together to form circuits that process information and generate behaviors.
Plasticity: This refers to the brain's ability to adapt and change in response to experience, including the growth of new synapses and changes in the strength of existing ones.
Neural Development: This topic deals with how neurons develop from stem cells, migrate to their final destinations, and form functioning neural networks.
Neurological Disorders: This includes a wide range of conditions, such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, epilepsy, and multiple sclerosis, that affect the nervous system and can result in cognitive, motor, and sensory deficits.
Neuropharmacology: This is the study of how drugs and other chemicals can affect the nervous system, including their effects on neurotransmitter release and receptor function.
Neuroimaging: This refers to the use of various techniques, such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and positron emission tomography (PET), to visualize the structure and function of the brain and nervous system.
Sensory neurons: These are neurons that are responsible for transmitting sensory information from different parts of the body to the central nervous system.
Motor neurons: These are neurons that transmit signals from the central nervous system to muscles and other organs, controlling movement and actions.
Interneurons: These are neurons that act as a bridge between sensory and motor neurons, processing signals and transmitting information between them.
Pyramidal neurons: These are neurons that are found in the cerebral cortex and are involved in cognitive functions such as learning, memory, and language.
Purkinje neurons: These are large neurons found in the cerebellum that are involved in motor coordination and control.
Bipolar neurons: These are neurons that have two extensions, one that receives signals and another that transmits them.
Retinal neurons: These are neurons found in the retina of the eye that are responsible for processing visual information.
Glial cells: These are not neurons but support cells that provide structural and nutritional support to neurons.
Cholinergic neurons: These are neurons that use acetylcholine as their primary neurotransmitter.
Dopaminergic neurons: These are neurons that use dopamine as their primary neurotransmitter and are involved in reward and motivation.
Serotonergic neurons: These are neurons that use serotonin as their primary neurotransmitter and are involved in regulating mood, appetite, and sleep.
GABAergic neurons: These are neurons that use gamma-aminobutyric acid as their primary neurotransmitter and are involved in inhibitory signaling in the nervous system.
Noradrenergic neurons: These are neurons that use norepinephrine as their primary neurotransmitter and are involved in the stress response and arousal.
"Neurons communicate with other cells via synapses - specialized connections that commonly use minute amounts of chemical neurotransmitters to pass the electric signal from the presynaptic neuron to the target cell through the synaptic gap."
"Neurons are typically classified into three types based on their function. Sensory neurons respond to stimuli such as touch, sound, or light, Motor neurons receive signals from the brain and spinal cord to control muscle contractions and glandular output, and Interneurons connect neurons to other neurons within the same region of the brain or spinal cord."
"Neurons are special cells which are made up of some structures that are common to all other eukaryotic cells such as the cell body (soma), a nucleus, smooth and rough endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi apparatus, mitochondria, and other cellular components."
"Additionally, neurons have other unique structures such as dendrites, and a single axon. The soma is a compact structure, and the axon and dendrites are filaments extruding from the soma."
"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."
"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."
"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."
"If the voltage changes by a large enough amount over a short interval, the neuron generates an all-or-nothing electrochemical pulse called an action potential."
"Synaptic signals may be excitatory or inhibitory, increasing or reducing the net voltage that reaches the soma."
"In most cases, neurons are generated by neural stem cells during brain development and childhood."
"Neurogenesis largely ceases during adulthood in most areas of the brain."
"The axon leaves the soma at a swelling called the axon hillock."
"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."
"However, synapses can connect an axon to another axon or a dendrite to another dendrite."
"Non-animals like plants and fungi do not have nerve cells."
"Neurons communicate with other cells via synapses - specialized connections that commonly use minute amounts of chemical neurotransmitters to pass the electric signal from the presynaptic neuron to the target cell through the synaptic gap."