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English: Complete neuron cell diagram. Neurons (also known as neurones and nerve cells) are electrically excitable cells in the nervous system that process and transmit information. In vertebrate animals, neurons are the core components of the brain, spinal cord and peripheral nerves.
Like all animal cells, the cell body of every neuron is enclosed by a plasma membrane, a bilayer of lipid molecules with many types of protein structures embedded in it. [12] A lipid bilayer is a powerful electrical insulator, but in neurons, many of the protein structures embedded in the membrane are electrically active. These include ion ...
Brain cells make up the functional tissue of the brain. The rest of the brain tissue is the structural stroma that includes connective tissue such as the meninges, blood vessels, and ducts. The two main types of cells in the brain are neurons, also known as nerve cells, and glial cells, also known as neuroglia. [1]
The soma of a neuron (i.e., the main part of the neuron in which the dendrites branch off of) contains many organelles, including granules called Nissl granules, which are composed largely of rough endoplasmic reticulum and free polyribosomes. [5] The cell nucleus is a key feature of the soma.
These processes are projections from the neuron cell body. Multipolar neurons constitute the majority of neurons in the central nervous system. They include motor neurons, and also interneurons (relay neurons), which are most commonly found in the cortex of the brain and the spinal cord.
Axoplasm is the cytoplasm within the axon of a neuron (nerve cell). For some neuronal types this can be more than 99% of the total cytoplasm. [1]Axoplasm has a different composition of organelles and other materials than that found in the neuron's cell body or dendrites.
An action potential (or nerve impulse) is a transient alteration of the transmembrane voltage (or membrane potential) across the membrane in an excitable cell generated by the activity of voltage-gated ion channels embedded in the membrane. The best known action potentials are pulse-like waves that travel along the axons of neurons.
Anterograde transport is often the transportation from the cell body to the periphery of the neuron whereas retrograde transport brings organelles and vesicles away from the axon terminus to the cell body. Anterograde transport is regulated by kinesins, a class of motor proteins. Kinesins have two head domains which work together like feet ...