What is a neuron?
Quick Answer
A neuron is a nerve cell that transmits information through electrical and chemical signals, forming the basic unit of the nervous system.
The Full Story
A typical neuron has a cell body, branching dendrites that receive signals and a long axon that sends signals onward. Electrical impulses travel along the axon, and at its end chemical messengers called neurotransmitters cross a tiny gap, the synapse, to the next cell. The human brain contains roughly 86 billion neurons, each of which may connect to thousands of others. Some signals travel along insulated axons at over 100 metres per second. Spanish scientist Santiago Ramón y Cajal showed in the late 1800s that the nervous system is made of separate cells, earning a Nobel Prize in 1906.
Key Facts
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