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Electrical impulses are sent through one electrode to stimulate the nerve. The second electrode records the impulse sent through the nerve as a result of stimulation. The time difference between stimulation from the first electrode and pickup by the downstream electrode is known as the latency. Nerve conduction latencies are typically on the ...
Structure of a typical neuron with Schwann cells in the peripheral nervous system. Neurons are highly specialized for the processing and transmission of cellular signals. Given the diversity of functions performed in different parts of the nervous system, there is a wide variety in their shape, size, and electrochemical properties.
Neurons form complex biological neural networks through which nerve impulses (action potentials) travel. Neurons do not touch each other (except in the case of an electrical synapse through a gap junction); instead, neurons interact at close contact points called synapses. A neuron transports its information by way of an action potential.
Myelin is composed of either Schwann cells (in the peripheral nervous system) or oligodendrocytes (in the central nervous system), both of which are types of glial cells. Although glial cells are not involved with the transmission of electrical signals, they communicate and provide important biochemical support to neurons. [19]
Moreover, the distinctions based on function between neurons and other cells such as cardiac and muscle cells are not helpful. Thus, the fundamental difference between a neuron and a nonneuronal cell is a matter of degree. Another major class of cells found in the nervous system are glial cells. These cells are only recently beginning to ...
In neuroanatomy, a neural pathway is the connection formed by axons that project from neurons to make synapses onto neurons in another location, to enable neurotransmission (the sending of a signal from one region of the nervous system to another). Neurons are connected by a single axon, or by a bundle of axons known as a nerve tract, or ...
In the nervous system, a synapse [1] is a structure that allows a neuron (or nerve cell) to pass an electrical or chemical signal to another neuron or a target effector cell. Synapses can be classified as either chemical or electrical, depending on the mechanism of signal transmission between neurons.
In the somatosensory system the sensory transduction mainly involves the conversion of the mechanical signal such as pressure, skin compression, stretch, vibration to electro-ionic impulses through the process of mechanotransduction. [10] It also includes the sensory transduction related to thermoception and nociception.