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 neurons
Scientists discover aggression-promoting pheromone in flies (w/ Video)
Dec 06, 2009 |
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Have you ever found yourself struggling to get your order taken at a crowded bar or lunch counter, only to walk away in disgust as more aggressive customers elbow their way to the front? It turns out that ...
How to read brain activity?
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Dec 04, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- For the very first time, scientists show what EEG can really tell us about how the brain functions.
To make memories, new neurons must erase older ones
Nov 12, 2009 |
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Short-term memory may depend in a surprising way on the ability of newly formed neurons to erase older connections. That's the conclusion of a report in the November 13th issue of the journal Cell that provid ...
Researchers identify dominant chemical that attracts mosquitoes to humans
Oct 26, 2009 |
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Scientists at the University of California, Davis, have identified the dominant odor naturally produced in humans and birds that attracts the blood-feeding Culex mosquitoes, which transmit West Nile virus ...
You can control your Marilyn Monroe neuron
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Oct 22, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- In a scientific first, researchers have been able to demonstrate the ability of humans to control the activity of individual brain cells.
Team reports major step forward in cell reprogramming
Oct 08, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A team of Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) researchers has made a major advance toward producing induced pluripotent stem cells, or iPS cells, that are safe enough to use in treating diseases ...
Chemical from Soil Bacteria Shows Potential Neuron Toxicity; Has Possible Parkinson's Implications
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Oct 06, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A chemical produced by common soil bacteria may kill neurons that produce dopamine, according to an article authored by University of Alabama researchers publishing Oct. 6. Dopamine neuron demise leads to ...
Function of a neglected structure in neurons revealed after 50 years
Sep 08, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Fifty years after it was originally discovered, scientists at the Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research, Switzerland, have elucidated the function of a microscopic network of ...
Ego City: Cities organized like human brains
Sep 03, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Cities are organized like brains, and the evolution of cities mirrors the evolution of human and animal brains, according to a new study by researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
Rats' mental 'instant replay' drives next moves
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Aug 26, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers at MIT’s Picower Institute for Learning and Memory have found that rats use a mental instant replay of their actions to help them decide what to do next, shedding new light on how ...
On the move: 'Jumping genes' create diversity in human brain cells
Aug 05, 2009 |
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Rather than sticking to a single DNA script, human brain cells harbor astonishing genomic variability, according to scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies. The findings, to be published in ...
Why we learn more from our successes than our failures
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Jul 29, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- If you've ever felt doomed to repeat your mistakes, researchers at MIT's Picower Institute for Learning and Memory may have explained why: Brain cells may only learn from experience when we ...
Ageing Brains Show Great Promise for Rejuvenation
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Jun 24, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- UQ neuroscientists have, for the first time, been able to demonstrate that moderate exercise significantly increases the number of neural stem cells in the ageing brain.
Scientists discover neurons that 'mirror' the attention of others
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
May 18, 2009 |
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Whether a monkey is looking to the left or merely watching another monkey looking that way, the same neurons in his brain are firing, according to researchers at the Duke University Medical Center.
Monkeys found to wonder what might have been
May 14, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Monkeys playing a game similar to "Let's Make A Deal" have revealed that their brains register missed opportunities and learn from their mistakes.
