"The neuron is the main component of nervous tissue in all animals except sponges and placozoa."
The basic building blocks of the nervous system. Learn about the different types, how they communicate, and their role in behavior and cognition.
Anatomy of the Neuron: This includes the structure and function of the different parts of a neuron, including the cell body, dendrites, and axon.
Types of Neurons: There are three main types of neurons: sensory neurons, motor neurons, and interneurons. Each type functions differently in transmitting information in the nervous system.
Neurotransmitters: These are chemicals that carry signals between neurons. Understanding their function and the different types is important in understanding how the brain communicates.
Synaptic Transmission: This is the process of transmitting information between neurons at the synapse. The mechanisms of release, binding, and inactivation of neurotransmitters are important to understand.
Neural Circuits: These are complex networks of neurons that are responsible for specific functions such as memory, perception, and movement. Understanding how these circuits are formed, how they function, and how they can be changed is crucial to understanding the brain.
Neuronal Plasticity: This is the ability of neurons to change and adapt over time. It allows the brain to learn and form new connections, but can also lead to dysfunction in certain conditions.
Action Potentials: These are the electrical signals that neurons use to communicate with each other. Understanding how they are generated and propagated is important in understanding neural function.
Brain Development: This includes the processes involved in the formation of the brain, including cell proliferation, migration, and differentiation. Understanding these processes is crucial to understanding how the brain works.
Neural Pathologies: These are disorders that affect the nervous system, such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and multiple sclerosis. Understanding the underlying mechanisms of these disorders is important in developing treatments.
Neuroimaging: This is a set of techniques used to visualize the structure and function of the brain, including MRI, fMRI, PET, and EEG. Understanding how these techniques are used and their limitations is important in interpreting neuroscientific research.
Sensory neurons: These neurons carry sensory information from the body to the brain. They are responsible for detecting and transmitting signals related to touch, taste, smell, sight, and hearing.
Motor neurons: These neurons carry signals from the brain to the muscles and glands, controlling movement and behavior.
Interneurons: These neurons are responsible for processing and transmitting information between sensory and motor neurons. They play a key role in modulating behavior and cognition.
Pyramidal neurons: These neurons are found in the cerebral cortex and are responsible for higher cognitive functions such as learning, memory, and decision making.
Purkinje cells: These neurons are found in the cerebellum and are responsible for smooth, coordinated movement.
Granule cells: These neurons are found in the cerebellum and are responsible for processing sensory information and fine motor coordination.
Bipolar cells: These neurons are found in the retina and are responsible for transmitting visual information from rods and cones to ganglion cells.
Ganglion cells: These neurons are found in the retina and are responsible for transmitting visual information from bipolar cells to the brain.
Cholinergic neurons: These neurons use acetylcholine as their primary neurotransmitter and are involved in learning, memory, and attention.
Dopaminergic neurons: These neurons use dopamine as their primary neurotransmitter and are involved in reward processing, motivation, and movement.
Serotoninergic neurons: These neurons use serotonin as their primary neurotransmitter and are involved in regulating mood, appetite, and sleep.
Noradrenergic neurons: These neurons use norepinephrine as their primary neurotransmitter and are involved in regulating stress responses and attention.
GABAergic neurons: These neurons use gamma-aminobutyric acid as their primary neurotransmitter and are involved in inhibiting activity in other neurons.
Glutamatergic neurons: These neurons use glutamate as their primary neurotransmitter and are involved in excitatory activity in other neurons.
Opioidergic neurons: These neurons release endogenous opioids, such as endorphins, enkephalins, and dynorphins, which modulate pain perception and mood.
"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."