KEY TERMS:
● NEURONS - the basic building blocks of the nervous system, neurons are nerve cells that
process and transmit messages through electrical and chemical signals
● SENSORY NEURONS - carry messages from the PNS to the CNS. long dendrites and short
axons
● RELAY NEURONS - connect the sensory neurons to the motor or other relay neurons. Short
dendrites and short axons
● MOTOR NEURONS - connect the CNS to effectors such as muscles and glands. Short
dendrites and long axons
STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION OF NEURONS -
100 billion neurons in the human nervous system
80% located in the brain
Transmits electrical impulses electrically or chemically
Neurons provide the nervous system with
communication
● Types of neurons -
➔ There are 3 types of neurons, Motor,
Relay and Sensory
● The structure of a Neuron -
➔ They vary in size from less than a
millimeter to up to a metre long
with same basic structure
➔ The cell body (soma) includes the
nucleus (contains genetic material).
➔ Branched - like structure called
dendrites protrude from the cell body. Carry nerve impulses from neighbouring
neurons towards the cell body
➔ The axon carries the impulses away from the cell body down the length of the
neurons. Axons are covered in a fatty layer of myelin sheath, protects the axon and
speeds up electrical transmission of the impulse
➔ Continuous myelin sheath would have a reverse effect and slow down the electrical
impulse. Myelin sheath is segmented by gaps called Nodes of Ranvier
➔ Speeds up the transmission of the impulse by forcing it to “jump” across the gaps
along the axon
➔ Finally, at the end of the axon are terminal buttons that communicate with the next
neuron in the chain across a gap known as the the synapse
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