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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 ...
Oligodendrocyte. Oligodendrocytes form the electrical insulation around the axons of CNS nerve cells. Oligodendrocytes (from Greek 'cells with a few branches'), also known as oligodendroglia, are a type of neuroglia whose main functions are to provide support and insulation to axons within the central nervous system (CNS) of jawed vertebrates.
Each process reaches out to an axon and spirals around it, creating a myelin sheath. The myelin sheath insulates the nerve fiber from the extracellular fluid and speeds up signal conduction along the nerve fiber. [34] In the peripheral nervous system, Schwann cells are responsible for myelin production.
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.
Schwann cells or neurolemmocytes (named after German physiologist Theodor Schwann) are the principal glia of the peripheral nervous system (PNS). Glial cells function to support neurons and in the PNS, also include satellite cells, olfactory ensheathing cells, enteric glia and glia that reside at sensory nerve endings, such as the Pacinian ...
Axon. An axon (from Greek ἄξων áxōn, axis) or nerve fiber (or nerve fibre: 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 ...
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 ...
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.