BSC-2010 Chapter Notes - Chapter 48: Signal Transduction, Peripheral Nervous System, The Membranes
2 Dec 2016
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Document Summary
Neurons nerve cells that transfer information within the body. Communication by neurons largely consists of long-distance electrical signals and short-distance chemical signals. The ability of a neuron to receive and transmit information is based on a highly specialized cellular organization. Most of a neurons"s organelles are located in the cell body. A typical neuron has highly branched extensions called dendrites. Together, with the cell body, the dendrites receive signals from other neurons. A neurons also has a single axon, an extension that transmits signals to other cells. Each branched end of an axon transmit information to another call at a junction called the synapse. The part of each axon branch that forms this specialized junction is a synaptic terminal. At most synapses, chemical messengers called neurotransmitters pass information form the transmitting neuron to the receiving cell. The transmitting neuron is the presynaptic cell and the neuron, muscle, or gland cell that receives the signal is the postsynaptic cell.
