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Neuron and synapse structure and function

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Explain the basic structures and functions of neurons and synapses in the brain.

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Solution Summary

Explains in detail the structure of a neuron and how a neural signal is communicated within a single neuron and between neurons.

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Start by googling 'neuron' images. You should come up with a picture of a neuron that has a cell body (soma) labelled and an axon travelling out from that. (I would provide a picture, but I'm concerned about copyright issues). A good example of a picture of a neuron is available about halfway down the page at: http://scienceblogs.com/purepedantry/2006/07/background_to_the_20_year_coma.php

In that picture, a signal travels from left to right along the neuron. The neuron receives messages from other neurons via the dendrites (these are the things that look like tree branches attached to the cell nucleus). The ...

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