A Set on edgi
How a Neuron Actually Fires
A thought is electricity, right up until the last millimeter.
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Axons
An axon is the long, slender cable that extends from a nerve cell to send electrical signals to other cells.
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Action Potential
An action potential is a fast electrical spike across a cell membrane that lets neurons, muscles, and endocrine cells send signals.
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Myelin Myelin is a fatty coating that wraps around nerve fibers to insulate them and speed up electrical signals.
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Synapse
A synapse is the microscopic junction where a nerve cell passes signals to another cell.
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Synaptic vesicle
A synaptic vesicle is a microscopic lipid bubble inside a nerve cell that stores chemical messengers called neurotransmitters.
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Neurotransmitters
A neurotransmitter is a chemical messenger released by a nerve cell to send a signal across a microscopic gap to another cell.
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Glial cell
Glial cells are non-neuronal cells in the nervous system that support, protect, and insulate neurons instead of firing electrical impulses.