Related topics: brain , proceedings of the national academy of sciences , brain cells , neurons , nature neuroscience
Neuron
hideA neuron (pronounced /ˈnjʊərɒn/ N(Y)OOR-on, also known as a neurone or nerve cell) is an excitable cell in the nervous system that processes and transmits information by electrochemical signalling. Neurons are the core components of the brain, the vertebrate spinal cord, the invertebrate ventral nerve cord, and the peripheral nerves. A number of specialized types of neurons exist: sensory neurons respond to touch, sound, light and numerous other stimuli affecting cells of the sensory organs that then send signals to the spinal cord and brain. Motor neurons receive signals from the brain and spinal cord and cause muscle contractions and affect glands. Interneurons connect neurons to other neurons within the same region of the brain or spinal cord. Neurons respond to stimuli, and communicate the presence of stimuli to the central nervous system, which processes that information and sends responses to other parts of the body for action. Neurons do not go through mitosis, and usually cannot be replaced after being destroyed, although astrocytes have been observed to turn into neurons as they are sometimes pluripotent.
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News tagged with nerve cells
Blacks with MS have more severe symptoms, decline faster than whites
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Feb 05, 2010 |
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Fewer African Americans than Caucasians develop multiple sclerosis (MS), statistics show, but their disease progresses more rapidly, and they don't respond as well to therapies, a new study by neurology researchers at the ...
Snake uses tentacles to 'see' in the dark
Feb 03, 2010 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A new study of a snake with tentacles on its snout has found it has a unique system for sensing prey: its tentacles allow it to "see" in murky water.
Learning from the brain: Computer scientists developing new generation of neuro-computer
Technology / Computer Sciences
Feb 02, 2010 |
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Intelligent machines that not only think for themselves but also actively learn are the vision of researchers of the Institute for Theoretical Science (IGI) at Graz University of Technology (Austria).
3 brain diseases linked by toxic form of same neural protein
Feb 02, 2010 |
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For the first time, researchers from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have found that three different degenerative brain disorders are linked by a toxic form of the same protein. The protein, ...
Stem cells rescue nerve cells by direct contact
Feb 01, 2010 |
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Scientists at the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet have shown how transplanted stem cells can connect with and rescue threatened neurons and brain tissue. The results point the way to new possible treatments ...
Dead neuron clean-up crew in peripheral nervous system found
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Jan 29, 2010 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Death is messy, especially in the developing nervous system. During embryonic development, more nerve cells (neurons) are produced than we will ever need or use. About half of those unnecessary ...
New insights into breast-feeding hormone
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Jan 28, 2010 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A mechanism for regulating the hormone prolactin has newly been revealed by scientists at Karolinska Institutet, Sweden. The results are to be published in the scientific journal Neuron, and may be significant ...
Neuroscientists making computers smart enough to see connections between brain's neurons
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Jan 28, 2010 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- C. elegans, a tiny worm about a millimeter long, doesn’t have much of a brain, but it has a nervous system — one that comprises 302 nerve cells, or neurons, to be exact. In the 1970s, a team ...
Lighting up nerves could help people with eye condition Retinitis Pigmentosa
Jan 28, 2010 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists are developing a new genetic engineering technique called optogenetics that they hope could ultimately lead to a new treatment for people with the eye condition Retinitis Pigmentosa, ...
Researchers directly turn mouse skin cells into neurons, skipping IPS stage
Jan 27, 2010 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Even Superman needed to retire to a phone booth for a quick change. But now scientists at the Stanford University School of Medicine have succeeded in the ultimate switch: transforming mouse ...
Capturing Fast Pollen Tube Growth on Camera, Researchers Pin Down Plant Fertilization Process
Jan 27, 2010 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Studying pollen tubes, University of Massachusetts Amherst plant cell biologist Peter Hepler and colleagues have captured some of the fastest growing tissues known, on camera for the first time, to advance ...
Scientists find survival factor for keeping nerve cells healthy
Jan 26, 2010 |
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Scientists at the Babraham Institute have discovered a novel survival factor whose rapid transport along nerve cells is crucial for keeping them alive. The same factor seems likely to be needed to keep our nerves healthy ...
Nano-motors facilitate communication between brain cells
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Jan 22, 2010 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- MRC-funded scientists led by Dr Josef Kittler (University College London Neuroscience) have identified how nano-sized motors in nerve cells help to regulate the balance of communication in ...
Scientists shed new light on walking
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Jan 22, 2010 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers at the medical university Karolinska Institutet have created a genetically modified mouse in which certain neurons can be activated by blue light. Shining blue light on brainstems or spinal cords ...
Stroke's 'death signal' discovered; may aid drug development
Jan 21, 2010 |
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Biomedical scientists from the University of Central Florida and Louisiana State University have identified a way to block a "cell death signal" that they believe triggers brain damage during strokes.
