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Myelinogenesis is the formation and development of myelin sheaths in the nervous system, typically initiated in late prenatal neurodevelopment and continuing throughout postnatal development. [1] Myelinogenesis continues throughout the lifespan to support learning and memory via neural circuit plasticity as well as remyelination following ...
Myelin (/ ˈ m aɪ. ə l ɪ n / MY-ə-lin) is a lipid-rich material that surrounds nerve cell axons 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 material (myelin) around it. However ...
OPCs play a critical role in developmental and adult myelinogenesis. They give rise to oligodendrocytes, which then wrap around axons and provide electrical insulation by forming a myelin sheath. This enables faster action potential propagation and high fidelity transmission without a need for an increase in axonal diameter. [2]
Oligodendrocytes are a type of glial cell, non-neuronal cells in the central nervous system.They arise during development from oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs), [8] which can be identified by their expression of a number of antigens, including the ganglioside GD3, [9] [10] [11] the NG2 chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan, and the platelet-derived growth factor-alpha receptor subunit (PDGF ...
Cell bodies of neurons are in yellow (Their axons are surrounded by myelin, produced by oligodendrocytes). Cellular extensions also known as cytoplasmic protrusions and cytoplasmic processes are those structures that project from different cells , in the body, or in other organisms.
Fig. 1. Neuron and myelinated axon, with signal flow from inputs at dendrites to outputs at axon terminals. The signal is a short electrical pulse called action potential or 'spike'. Fig 2. Time course of neuronal action potential ("spike"). Note that the amplitude and the exact shape of the action potential can vary according to the exact ...
Since an axon can be unmyelinated or myelinated, the action potential has two methods to travel down the axon. These methods are referred to as continuous conduction for unmyelinated axons, and saltatory conduction for myelinated axons. Saltatory conduction is defined as an action potential moving in discrete jumps down a myelinated axon.
Axon guidance (also called axon pathfinding) is a subfield of neural development concerning the process by which neurons send out axons to reach their correct targets. Axons often follow very precise paths in the nervous system, and how they manage to find their way so accurately is an area of ongoing research.