The neurons are cells found in the tissue of the nervous system, responsible for transmitting electrical impulses to other muscles of the body when receiving an external stimulus.
A neuron is made up of: nucleus, perikaryon, dendrites and axon . Let’s see them separately:
Core
It is found in the cell body, surrounded by cytoplasm , it is a highly visible part that contains one or two nucleoli. In this space the energy is produced that helps the neuron to function.
Pericarion
Surrounding the nucleus are various organelles, among which the corpuscles of Nissl are prominent , a substance that helps in the synthesis of the proteins necessary for neurons to work.
RECOMMENDED: How long does a guinea pig live and how to extend its life
The perikaryon also consists of a cytoskeleton , formed by microtubules and intermediate filaments, which are responsible for transporting the molecules of the proteins processed by the nucleus , which are subsequently carried to the dendrites and the axon .
Dendrites
They are nerve branches that go outside the cell body and are made up of large amounts of microtubules, mitochondria, and Nissl clumps .
Its function is to receive impulses from other nerve cells and take them to the soma or cell body, where the nucleus is located.
Axon
It is an extension that leaves the cell body , covered in a myelin sheath ( Schwann cells ). HIS job is to conduct the nerve impulse that reaches him from the soma to other neurons, muscles or glands in our body.
The axon has its end in the terminal axon , that is, in synaptic buttons that connect it with the dendrites of the following neurons .
When the whole process that we have just described occurs in the parts of one neuron and the beginning of the next, it is called synapse , an electrical-chemical process that transmits “information” between the neuronal chain that makes up our nervous system .