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Neuron

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A 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 neurons


Machine Translates Thoughts into Speech in Real Time

Machine Translates Thoughts into Speech in Real Time

Medicine & Health / Neuroscience

created Dec 21, 2009 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (41) | comments 9

(PhysOrg.com) -- By implanting an electrode into the brain of a person with locked-in syndrome, scientists have demonstrated how to wirelessly transmit neural signals to a speech synthesizer. The "thought-to-speech" ...





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Up a little on the left... now, over to the right... Scientists find a source of nonallergic itch

Medicine & Health / Research

created 3 hours ago | popularity 4 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Scratching below the surface of a troublesome sensation that's equal parts tingle-tickle-prickle, sensory scientists from Johns Hopkins have discovered in mice a molecular basis for nonallergic itch.


Researchers crack part of the neuronal code

Researchers crack part of the neuronal code

Medicine & Health / Neuroscience

created 7 hours ago | popularity 4.8 / 5 (5) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Prostheses for paralysed patients, communication with patients who have lost all capacity for normal communication - the hopes for modern brain research are high. However, such brain-machine ...


IKK may act as both inhibitor and promoter of Huntington's disease

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Dec 21, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

The kinase IKK phosphorylates the protein mutated in Huntington's disease to promote its removal and neuron survival, but IKK may be a double-edged sword that increases neurotoxicity in later stages of the disease. The study, ...


Growing evidence suggests progesterone should be considered a treatment option for traumatic brain injuries

Medicine & Health / Research

created 3 hours ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Researchers at Emory University in Atlanta, GA, recommend that progesterone (PROG), a naturally occurring hormone found in both males and females that can protect damaged cells in the central and peripheral nervous systems, ...


New human reproductive hormone could lead to novel contraceptives

Medicine & Health / Research

created 52 minutes ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Nearly 10 years after the discovery that birds make a hormone that suppresses reproduction, University of California, Berkeley, neuroscientists have established that humans make it too, opening the door to development of ...


Dutch researchers explore advanced brain diagnostic techniques

Dutch researchers explore advanced brain diagnostic techniques

Medicine & Health / Neuroscience

created Dec 21, 2009 | popularity 4 / 5 (1) | comments 0

At present the task of diagnosing brain disorders using electroencephalography (EEG) is still performed by humans, but in years to come it will increasingly be taken over by computerized systems. This will ...


Microcephaly genes associated with human brain size

Medicine & Health / Genetics

created Dec 21, 2009 | popularity 3.7 / 5 (3) | comments 1

A group of Norwegian and American researchers have shown that common variations in genes associated with microcephaly - a neuro-developmental disorder in which brain size is dramatically reduced - may explain differences ...



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