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accessory cell
Any of a number of cells in the nervous system that contribute to the support, maintenance, and repair of neurons. See astrocyte, ependymal cell, microglia, oligodendrocyte, Schwann cell.
action potential
The change in voltage that occurs across the membrane of a nerve or muscle cell when a nerve impulse is triggered. It is due to the passage of charged particles across the membrane (see ...
adrenaline
A hormone secreted by the medulla of the adrenal gland, and by adrenergic neurons of the sympathetic nervous system. Adrenaline induces the ‘fight or flight’ responses: increased heart function, an ...
agonist
n. 1. (prime mover) a muscle whose active contraction causes movement of a part of the body. Contraction of an agonist is associated with relaxation of its antagonist. 2. a drug or other substance ...
Aplysia
The genus of gastropods which includes the sea hares: large, sluglike, marine molluscs with rudimentary, internal shells. Aplysia californica has been much used in the study of the molecular basis of ...
axodendritic
Of or relating to a synapse (1) between the axon of one neuron and the dendrite of another, usually excitatory in its effect on the target neuron. Compare axoaxonic, axosomatic, dendrodendritic. A-D ...
axon
(aks-on)a nerve fibre: a single process extending from the cell body of a neurone and carrying nerve impulses away from it.
bipolar
adj. (in neurology) describing a neuron (nerve cell) that has two processes extending in different directions from its cell body.
bipolar cell
A class of retinal interneurons that receive input from the photoreceptors and send their output to ganglion cells. The response to light is graded (not an all-or-none response) and bipolar cells can ...
Camillo Golgi
(1843–1926)An Italian physician who developed a method for staining nerve cells with silver nitrate and who first demonstrated the existence of the branching processes named after him (Golgi body). ...
cell body
(perikaryon) the enlarged portion of a neuron (nerve cell), containing the nucleus. It is concerned more with the nutrition of the cell than with propagation of nerve impulses.
Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease
(peroneal muscular atrophy) a group of inherited diseases of the peripheral nerves, also known as hereditary sensorimotor neuropathy, causing a gradually progressive weakness and wasting of the ...
CREB
The abbreviation for cyclic AMP response element binding proteins. These proteins are required for the consolidation of short-term memory into long-term memory. Genes encoding CREBs have been cloned ...
cytoskeleton
A network of fibres permeating the matrix of living eukaryotic cells that provides a supporting framework for organelles, anchors the plasma membrane and certain cell junctions, facilitates cellular ...
Dale's law
The principle according to which a neuron can release only one neurotransmitter substance from its synaptic endings. This law has been repealed in the light of research findings. [Named after the ...
dendrite
n. one of the shorter branching processes of the cell body of a neuron, which makes contact with other neurons at synapses and carries nerve impulses from them into the cell body.
endorphin
(en-dor-fin)one of a group of peptides that occur naturally in the brain and have pain-relieving properties similar to those of the opiates. See also encephalin.
excitatory
Tending to cause excitation. In neurophysiology, characteristic of neurons that cause other neurons to fire, or neurotransmitters, the action of which tends to cause neurons to fire, or synapses (1) ...
facilitation
The act or process of assisting the progress of something or making it easier; more specifically, the increased ease with which neurons transmit impulses as a result of prior excitation. See also ...
ganglion
n. ( pl. ganglia) 1. (in neurology) any structure containing a collection of nerve cell bodies and often also numbers of synapses. In the sympathetic nervous system chains of ganglia are found on ...
