Week 5 – Discussion Board 2

[Art Liebl]

Research the components of the nerve cell and importance of each one of them.  Reply to two fellow students by Monday.

[Johana Colon]

A nerve cell, or neuron, is a special kind of cell that helps your body send and receive messages. Neurons are what allow you to think, move, feel, and react to the world around you. Each part of a neuron has a unique job, and all of them work together to make sure the nervous system runs smoothly.

The cell body, also called the soma, is like the control center of the neuron. It holds the nucleus, which contains the cell’s DNA, and it keeps the neuron alive and working. It also helps process signals that come from other cells.

Coming out of the cell body are dendrites—these look like little branches. Their job is to receive messages from other neurons and bring those messages to the cell body. You can think of dendrites like ears—they’re always listening for incoming signals.

Then there’s the axon, which is a long, thin extension that carries messages away from the cell body and sends them to other neurons, muscles, or glands. Some axons are very short, while others (like the ones going from your spine to your toes) can be really long!

To help those messages travel faster, the axon is covered in something called a myelin sheath—a protective, fatty layer that works like insulation on a wire. Along the axon are little gaps in this covering, called the nodes of Ranvier, which help speed up how fast the message moves down the axon.

Finally, at the end of the axon are the axon terminals. These are the parts that send the message to the next cell. They do this by releasing special chemicals called neurotransmitters into a small gap between cells called the synapse.

All these parts work together to help your brain and body communicate. Without neurons and their parts working properly, you wouldn’t be able to move, feel, or even think clearly. They’re small, but they do some of the most important work in your entire body.

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