How do you associate the structure of neuron with its function? the structure of neuron with its function?
Answers
Answer:
While neurons have a lot in common with other types of cells, they're structurally and functionally unique. Specialized projections called axons allow neurons to transmit electrical and chemical signals to other cells. Neurons can also receive these signals via rootlike extensions known as dendrites.
Cell body
Also known as a soma, the cell body is the neuron’s core. The cell body carries genetic information, maintains the neuron’s structure, and provides energy to drive activities.
Like other cell bodies, a neuron’s soma contains a nucleus and specialized organelles. It’s enclosed by a membrane which both protects it and allows it to interact with its immediate surroundings.
Axon
An axon is a long, tail-like structure which joins the cell body at a specialized junction called the axon hillock. Many axons are insulated with a fatty substance called myelin. Myelin helps axons to conduct an electrical signal. Neurons generally have one main axon.
Dendrites
Dendrites are fibrous roots that branch out from the cell body. Like antennae, dendrites receive and process signals from the axons of other neurons. Neurons can have more than one set of dendrites, known as dendritic trees. How many they have generally depends on their role.
For instance, Purkinje cells are a special type of neuron found in the cerebellum. These cells have highly developed dendritic trees which allow them to receive thousands of signals.
Function of neurons
Neurons send signals using action potentials. An action potential is a shift in the neuron’s electric potential caused by the flow of ions in and out of the neural membrane.
Action potentials can trigger both chemical and electrical synapses.
Chemical synapses
In a chemical synapse, action potentials affect other neurons via a gap between neurons called a synapse. Synapses consist of a presynaptic ending, a synaptic cleft, and a postsynaptic ending.
When an action potential is generated, it’s carried along the axon to a presynaptic ending. This triggers the release of chemical messengers called neurotransmitters. These molecules cross the synaptic cleft and bind to receptors in the postsynaptic ending of a dendrite.
Neurotransmitters can excite the postsynaptic neuron, causing it to generate an action potential of its own. Alternatively, they can inhibit the postsynaptic neuron, in which case it doesn’t generate an action potential.
Electrical synapses
Electrical synapses can only excite. They occur when two neurons are connected via a gap junction. This gap is much smaller than a synapse, and includes ion channels which facilitate the direct transmission of a positive electrical signal. As a result, electrical synapses are much faster than chemical synapses. However, the signal diminishes from one neuron to the next, making them less effective at transmitting.
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Answer:
Neurons have long extensions that extend out from the cell body called dendrites and axons. Dendrites are extensions of neurons that receive signals and conduct them toward the cell body. Axons are extensions of neurons that conduct signals away from the cell body to other cells.