Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
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]
Photomicrograph of Nissl bodies (two are indicated by arrows) in the cytoplasm of motor neurons in the anterior horn of the spinal cord; cresyl violet stain (purple) along with a luxol fast blue stain for myelin. Scale bar = 30 microns (0.03mm). Drawing of a motor neuron from the ventral horn of the medulla spinals of a rabbit.
White matter can sometimes appear darker than grey matter on a microscope slide because of the type of stain used. Cerebral and spinal white matter do not contain dendrites , neural cell bodies , or shorter axons, [ citation needed ] which can only be found in grey matter.
Confocal microscope image of cerebellar Purkinje cells expressing tdTomato. These cells are some of the largest neurons in the human brain (Betz cells being the largest), [5] with an intricately elaborate dendritic arbor, characterized by a large number of dendritic spines. Purkinje cells are found within the Purkinje layer in the cerebellum.
The upper motor neuron descends in the spinal cord to the level of the appropriate spinal nerve root. At this point, the upper motor neuron synapses with the lower motor neuron or interneurons within the ventral horn of the spinal cord, each of whose axons innervate a fiber of skeletal muscle. [1] [2]
In that view, a neuron in the motor cortex sends an axon or projection to the spinal cord and forms a synapse on a motor neuron. The motor neuron sends an electrical impulse to a muscle. When the neuron in the cortex becomes active, it causes a muscle contraction. The greater the activity in the motor cortex, the stronger the muscle force. Each ...
The motor part of the spindle is provided by motor neurons: up to a dozen gamma motor neurons also known as fusimotor neurons. [4] These activate the muscle fibres within the spindle. Gamma motor neurons supply only muscle fibres within the spindle, whereas beta motor neurons supply muscle fibres both within and outside of the spindle.
A neuroeffector junction is a site where a motor neuron releases a neurotransmitter to affect a target—non-neuronal—cell. This junction functions like a synapse. However, unlike most neurons, somatic efferent motor neurons innervate skeletal muscle, and are always excitatory.