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Nerve Cell

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Let’s understand more about the human nervous system and the length of nerves in human body

In biology, the classical doctrine of the nervous system determines that it is a fairly complex part of an animal that coordinates its moves and sensory data via transmitting indicators to and from one-of-a-kind elements of its frame. The nervous system detects environmental modifications that impact the frame and then works in tandem with the endocrine system to reply to such occasions.


Nervous tissue first arose in wormlike organisms approximately 550 to six hundred million years in the past. However, this classical doctrine has been challenged for a long time by using discoveries about the life and use of electrical alerts in plants. On the basis of these findings, a few scientists have proposed that a plant apprehensive system exists and that a systematic area referred to as plant neurobiology should be created.


Structure Of Neuron


Structure Of Nueron


Structure of Nerve Cell

The shape, size, and structure of nerve cells depend on their position and function in the body. Usually, the size of nerve cells varies depending on how long the electrical impulses are to be transmitted.

The nerve cell is a specialized individual cell that forms our nervous system. All the human body neurons have three parts, a cell body, an axon, and dendrites. The nerve cell parts consist of the following:


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  • Cell Body:

The cell body in a nerve cell is its core. It is also called soma. The cell body consists of the nerve cell’s nucleus along with other specialized cell organelles such as the endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi apparatus, mitochondria, and other components. The cell body is an essential part of a neuron and carries genetic information. It also helps maintain the cell’s overall structure and provides energy to carry out the cell’s activities.


  • Axon:

An axon is a part of the nerve cell, which is a long tube-like structure that joins the cell body at a specific position. The axon is primarily involved in carrying the electrical signals from the cell body to the neuron ending and transmitting it to other surrounding neurons.


  • Dendrites:

They are the root-like projections on a cell body that facilitate the transmission and receiving of messages to and back from other neurons. Dendrites process and send the electrical impulses received from the axon endings to the cell body.


It is the outermost layer of a nerve cell. Its primary function is to cover and protect the nerve fibers in the neurons.


  • Synapse:

It is known as the ending part of the nerve or nerve junction. Its primary function is to permit the entry of electrical impulses from one neuron to another.

Types of Nerve Cell or Neurons

Now that we have studied the nerve cell parts and length of nerve cells, let’s look at the different types of neurons. Depending on their functions, neurons can be broadly classified into three types:

  • Sensory Neurons:

Sensory neurons are generally found in the sense organs of the human body, such as the eyes, nose, skin, tongue, and ears. These nerve cells are triggered by the chemical and physical inputs of our environment, such as sound, heat, and light. The sensory neurons facilitate the movement of sensory impulses from the sensory organs to the central nervous system. There are approximately 10 million sensory neurons in the human body.


  • Motor Neurons:

Motor neurons are the ones that facilitate the transmission of motor impulses from the central nervous system to the different parts of the body. These types of neurons play a major role in the voluntary and involuntary movements of the body. The motor neurons are primarily found in various glands and muscles of the human body.


  • Interneurons:

Interneurons are those neurons that act as a mediator between sensory neurons, motor neurons, and the central nervous system. They help in the smooth transmission of signals. They help in conducting smooth communication between the neurons and the central nervous system. The interneurons are present in all parts of the body and are exclusively found in the central nervous system.


Functions of Nerve Cells

The primary function of every nerve cell present in the human body is to transmit messages. But the nerve cells are also involved in the following activities:

  • It helps the body to respond to the surrounding stimuli.

  • It helps the body in the smooth conduct of metabolic activities.

  • It helps in both the voluntary and involuntary movement of the body parts.

  • It helps establish communication between the central nervous system and the body parts by enabling the smooth transmission of messages.


What is the Nervous System?

The human nervous system is a complex network of neurons that are arranged in the central and peripheral nervous systems. It is made up of two parts:


The central Nervous System comprises neurons and neural pathways, along with spinal cord, and brain. It plays a role in controlling involuntary muscle movements and body functions such as breathing, heart rate, digestion, thermoregulation, sweating and urination. It also has control over voluntary muscle movements.


The peripheral nervous system is made up of nerves like cranial and spinal, either singly or in groups, which relay sensory information from the periphery of the body to the central nervous system.


If you have ever wondered, How many nerves are in the Human Body, You should know that the total number of nerves in the human body is much greater than the number of nerves in most animals.


Human Nerves


Human Nerves


The nerves and cells referred to as neurons, send messages during your frame. All nerves are vital for correct everyday functioning.


The Smallest and the Biggest nerve in human body

The length of nerves in Human Body varies. The shortest nerve is a tiny, one-millimetre-long channel in the base of your thumb called the median nerve. The longest nerve is the sciatic nerve, which travels from the lower back down through the thigh and foot. Regardless, nerves play an important role in your body’s ability to control movement and maintain equilibrium. Nerve cells allow communication between areas of your brain; they also help regulate temperature and respiration by warming blood as it passes through them, and they release neurotransmitters that send other signals around our bodies like hormones or adrenaline.


Summary

From the nervous system for kids, we know that the human body is home to a complex network of nervous systems that helps to regulate bodily processes. The human nervous system is made up of two components, central nerves and peripheral nerves, which perform different functions. A neuron transmits electrical impulses to every other neuron. It is made of a cell physique, cell membrane, nucleus and cytoplasm. There are three unique sorts of cells in the human body: nerve cells or neurons, epithelial cells and muscle cells. so, this brings us to the end of our article where we learnt everything about nerve cells including their types, and functions as well as various interesting facts about them. In case of further doubts feel free to ask in the comments.

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FAQs on Nerve Cell

1. How are Sensory Neurons different from Motor Neurons?

When compared with the motor neurons, the sensory neurons have a different set of functionality. The sensory neurons carry signals or electrical impulses from the sensory organs to the central nervous system. On the other hand, the motor neuron carries electrical signals from the central nervous system to the different parts of the body, which include sensory organs. The axon of sensory neurons is short in comparison to the axon of motor neurons. Sensory neurons consist of a single long dendron, but motor neurons consist of more than one dendrons. The sensory neurons are mostly located in the sensory organs of the body. Whereas the motor neurons are located mostly in glands and muscles.

2. What is Myelin Sheath?

Myelin is a fatty material, which is produced by the glial cells of the neurons. The myelin wraps around the axon of the neurons to form a protective layer called the myelin sheath. The myelin sheath is the outer protective layer of a nerve cell that provides insulation for the smooth transmission of the electric impulses through the axon. The myelin increases the speed of conduction of the electric signals as the fatty material prevents the electric impulses from leaking out. The myelin sheath is essential as the axons of a human nerve cell can be as long as a meter, and it requires proper insulation to conduct the signals with ease. 

3. What is the difference between neurons and neuroglia?

Neurons and neuroglia are the two types of cells that make up the nervous system of higher vertebrates. The main difference between neurons and neuroglia is that neurons are involved in the signal transduction in the nervous system whereas neuroglial is the supporting cells of the neurons.

4. What are the characteristics of a nerve cell?

The main characteristics of Nerve cells are that they are excitable and respond to external stimuli. It shows conductivity by transmitting signals from one cell to the other. It plays a significant role in transmitting signals through neurotransmitters.

5. How does the Nerve System work?

Functionally talking, the Nervous System is composed of the somatic Nervous system and the autonomic Nervous System. The somatic Nervous System makes it viable for the body to interact with its surroundings. It acts best on the skeletal muscular tissues and governs voluntary actions, reflexes and semiautomatic moves (maintaining balance, posture, walking) in addition to getting the sensory messages from the pores and skin and the sensory organs.

The autonomic Nervous system regulates unconscious visceral functions: respiration, digestion, heart rhythm, blood flow, excretion, etc. It acts on the smooth muscle tissues (which permit the involuntary movements of the organs), certain glands, the vascular system and the heart muscle.

6. How is a Nerve Impulse Transmitted?

100 billion nerve cells play an integral role in controlling our thoughts and actions. The neuron is the brain's communication hub. It has one axon that transmits nerve impulses to an axon of another neuron that communicates with another neuron if needed or just relays the message on so it can possibly reach a different part of your body.

7. How many nerves are in the Human body?

107,000 is the total number of nerves in the Human body. This figure gives a small indication of just how intricate and advanced our nervous system really is, and just how different it is from other animals.


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