PHGY 209 Lecture Notes - Lecture 17: Chemical Synapse, Brainstem, Relative Direction
21 Feb 2018
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Document Summary
Despite their morphological diversity, neurons share characteristic structures, including the cell body (soma), branching dendrites, and a single axon, which may extend anywhere from a few millimeters to more than a meter. Can experimentally remove processes of the neuron, but the neuron will still survive (processes may grow back). Between close neurons: propagate electrical signals from one part of the body to another (or one part of the nervous system to another, one axon sends off multiple branches with branches o thus a single axon can influence neurons located in the different parts of the nervous system. Presynaptic terminals: axons have multiple endings which have special properties (important for synapse function) The information flows down the dendrites, through the soma, and down the axon, to the presynaptic terminal. The axon communicates through another neuron which undergoes the same flow direction. Thus, neurons can be described as functionally polarized cells.
