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  2. White matter - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_matter

    White matter is the tissue through which messages pass between different areas of grey matter within the central nervous system. The white matter is white because of the fatty substance (myelin) that surrounds the nerve fibers (axons). This myelin is found in almost all long nerve fibers, and acts as an electrical insulation.

  3. Myelin - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myelin

    Myelin (/ ˈmaɪ.əlɪn / MY-ə-lin) is a lipid -rich material that surrounds nerve cell axons (the nervous system's electrical wires) to insulate them and increase the rate at which electrical impulses (called action potentials) pass along the axon. [ 1 ][ 2 ] The myelinated axon can be likened to an electrical wire (the axon) with insulating ...

  4. Axon - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axon

    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 ...

  5. Action potential - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_potential

    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 ...

  6. Axon terminal - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axon_terminal

    Axon terminals (also called terminal boutons, synaptic boutons, end-feet, or presynaptic terminals) are distal terminations of the branches of an axon. 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 ...

  7. Motor neuron - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motor_neuron

    H&E-LFB stain. A motor neuron (or motoneuron or efferent neuron[ 1 ]) is a neuron whose cell body is located in the motor cortex, brainstem or the spinal cord, and whose axon (fiber) projects to the spinal cord or outside of the spinal cord to directly or indirectly control effector organs, mainly muscles and glands. [ 2 ]

  8. Grey matter - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grey_matter

    Grey matter, or brain matter in American English, is a major component of the central nervous system, consisting of neuronal cell bodies, neuropil (dendrites and unmyelinated axons), glial cells (astrocytes and oligodendrocytes), synapses, and capillaries. Grey matter is distinguished from white matter in that it contains numerous cell bodies ...

  9. Axon hillock - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axon_hillock

    Latin. colliculus axonis. TH. H2.00.06.1.00006. Anatomical terminology. [ edit on Wikidata] 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.