Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Artistic interpretation of the major elements in chemical synaptic transmission. An electrochemical wave called an action potential travels along the axon of a neuron.When the action potential reaches the presynaptic terminal, it provokes the release of a synaptic vesicle, secreting its quanta of neurotransmitter molecules.
Neurotransmission (Latin: transmissio "passage, crossing" from transmittere "send, let through") is the process by which signaling molecules called neurotransmitters are released by the axon terminal of a neuron (the presynaptic neuron), and bind to and react with the receptors on the dendrites of another neuron (the postsynaptic neuron) a ...
An axon, also called a nerve fiber, is a long, slender projection of a nerve cell that conducts electrical impulses called action potentials away from the neuron's cell body to transmit those impulses to other neurons, muscle cells, or glands.
The action potential in a normal skeletal muscle cell is similar to the action potential in neurons. [61] Action potentials result from the depolarization of the cell membrane (the sarcolemma ), which opens voltage-sensitive sodium channels; these become inactivated and the membrane is repolarized through the outward current of potassium ions.
The function of the axon is to transmit information to different neurons, muscles, and glands. In certain sensory neurons ( pseudounipolar neurons ), such as those for touch and warmth, the axons are called afferent nerve fibers and the electrical impulse travels along these from the periphery to the cell body and from the cell body to the ...
This degeneration is due to an autoimmune response typically initiated by various infections. Two primary classifications exist: demyelinating (Schwann cell damage) and axonal (direct nerve fiber damage). [7] [16] Each of these then branches into additional sub-classifications depending on the exact manifestation. In all cases, however, the ...
Neurons are electrically excitable, due to the maintenance of voltage gradients across their membranes. 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 .
This may be due to thermal damage, electroporation of the cell membrane, toxic products from electrochemical reactions at the electrode surface, or over-excitation of the targeted neurons or muscles. Typically FES is concerned with stimulation of neurons and nerves.