Neurons

Those incredible/frustrating bodies who can be over or under-active, bringing about seizures!

P.S. If you see a new word in the description of something, it should have its own description too, so look elsewhere on the page or in the general glossary!

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Neurons

The bad boys of your brain (and spinal cord and other parts of your body)! They are nerve cells and there are estimated to be 100 BILLION of these in our Nervous Systems' (which include the Central Nervous System and Peripheral Nervous System).

Dendrites

These look like branches from a tree! They are connected to the Soma (the cell body of your neuron) and through their Receptor molecules (the tips) they receive messages from the other neurons in your brain. They pass this info down through your neuron.

Receptor molecules

These are the tips of your Dendrites which receive information from other neurons through the Synapse.

Plasma membrane/Cell membrane

Covering and protecting your Soma, the Plasma membrane controls what stuff can go in and out of it.

Soma/Cell body

This the centre of and the heart and life-support centre of your neuron. It organises everything and keeps your neuron functional. It receives signals received from your Dendrites and passes them on to your Axon Hillock.

Nucleus

This is in the centre of your Soma and within it you'll find your DNA!

Axon Hillock

This is part of the Axon and right next to and connected to the Soma. It controls the firing/release of the signal to the rest of the neuron. So, if the signal is strong enough, it'll allow the message to travel further down the Axon.

Axon

This is like a bit of wire along which information is sent from one end of your neuron to the other. It starts at the Soma and goes right down to the Axon Terminal (the swollen-looking endy bits of your neuron).

Myelin sheath

These are covers (like the plastic covers you see on electrical wires) which insulate the Axon. They help to speed up the brain signals/neural impulses travelling through the Axon.

Nodes of Ranvier

These are tiny gaps in between parts of the Myelin sheath.

Axon terminals/endings or Synaptic Knobs

These are what look like swollen bits at the end of your Axons which contain your Neurotransmitters.

Neurotransmitters

These chemicals are stored in the Axon terminals in tiny sacks called Synaptic Vesicles. They are what's released from one neuron and received by another over a Synapse (i.e. the neurotransmitters transfer messages from one neuron to another).

Neural impulse / Action potential /Spikes

This is the electrical signal travelling down the Axon. When a neuron emits a nerve impulse people often say that it has "fired". It’s like a “boom” of data being transmitted from one end of the neuron to the other.

Synapse

These are the gaps between two neurons over which Neurotransmitters are transferred. The gap goes from one neurons' Axon Terminal to another neuron's Receptor molecules. It’s sharing information!