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The axon hillock is a specialized part of the cell body (or soma) of a neuron that connects to the axon. It can be identified using light microscopy from its appearance and location in a neuron and from its sparse distribution of Nissl substance .
An axon (from Greek ἄξων áxōn, axis) or nerve fiber (or nervefibre: see spelling differences) is a long, slender projection of a nerve cell, or neuron, in vertebrates, that typically conducts electrical impulses known as action potentials away from the nerve cell body. The function of the axon is to transmit information to different ...
As an action potential (nerve impulse) travels down an axonthere is a change in electric polarity across the membraneof the axon. In response to a signal from another neuron, sodium- (Na+) and potassium- (K+)–gated ion channelsopen and close as the membrane reaches its threshold potential. Na+channels open at the beginning of the action ...
Alpha (α) motor neurons (also called alpha motoneurons), are large, multipolar lower motor neurons of the brainstem and spinal cord. They innervate extrafusal muscle fibers of skeletal muscle and are directly responsible for initiating their contraction. Alpha motor neurons are distinct from gamma motor neurons, which innervate intrafusal ...
Summation (neurophysiology) Basic ways that neurons can interact with each other when converting input to output. Summation, which includes both spatial summation and temporal summation, is the process that determines whether or not an action potential will be generated by the combined effects of excitatory and inhibitory signals, both from ...
Soma. In cellular neuroscience, the soma (pl.: somata or somas; from Greek σῶμα (sôma) 'body'), perikaryon (pl.: perikarya), neurocyton, or cell body is the bulbous, non-process portion of a neuron or other brain cell type, containing the cell nucleus. Although it is often used to refer to neurons, it can also refer to other cell types as ...
The surge of depolarization traveling from the axon hillock to the axon terminal is known as an action potential. Action potentials reach the axon terminal, where the action potential triggers the release of neurotransmitters from the neuron. The neurotransmitters that are released from the axon continue on to stimulate other cells such as ...
Anatomical terms of neuroanatomy. [ edit on Wikidata] A pseudounipolar neuron is a type of neuron which has one extension from its cell body. This type of neuron contains an axon that has split into two branches. They develop embryologically as bipolar in shape, and are thus termed pseudounipolar instead of unipolar.