Tuesday, September 11, 2012

The Structure of a Neuron


In the past it was believed that neurons were somehow connected to one another, but after the 1900's this concept changed and it was possible to see that the  brain was composed of individual cells.
It is very difficult to know the amount of nervous cells or neurons that are in humans because of their difference in size and density. Neurons are in charge of recieve and give information to other cells in the body, their specialty is carry messages through an electrochemical process across the body.
Neurons like other cells are surrounded by a membrane, have a nucleus, as well as mitochondria and other organelles.

Neurons are different from other cells because they have extensions called dendrites and axons. Dendrites specialized in recieved incoming information. Axons take information away from the cell body.
One curious note that I found is that neurons are the longest and oldest cells in our bodies. We have many cells in our bodies that die and are replaced during our lifetime, but many neurons are never replaced when they die.

1 comment:

  1. i know that neurons can not be duplicate or replace because that could cause some problems in the brain, like mental disorders or any other problem related with the brain and who it works. therefore for a safety procedure neurons do not have the capacity of divide and multiply like many other cells in our body.

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