Nervous System

nerves

A bundle of neurons.

sensory neurons

Nerve cells responsible for receiving external stimuli from the body's environment and passing that signal through nerves to the central nervous system.

motor neurons

Nerve cells that pass signals from the brain or spinal cord to a muscle or gland.

how signals move through and between neurons

Neurons receive input or signals through their dendrites and pass them through the cell to the axon. The signal travels down the axon, and with the help of neurotransmitters, is transferred through the synapse to muscles, other tissue, or another neuron.

axon

The long extension from a nerve cell along which signals travel.

peripheral nervous system

The part of the nervous system that includes nerves and is not part of the brain and spinal cord.

central nervous system

The part of the nervous system that includes the brain and spinal cord.

dendrite

A branch extending from a neuron that receives signals from another neuron through a synapse.

myelin

A fatty substance that surrounds the axon and increases the speed at which signals travel.

neuron

A nerve cell that sends signals or transmits nerve impulses.

neurotransmitter

Chemicals that assist in passing a signal through the synapse.

brain

Control center of the body

synapse

The gap between the branches extending from a neuron's axon that sends a signal to the next neuron.

how the nervous system works

The peripheral nervous system receives and collects stimuli from our environment. The peripheral nervous system sends signals through sensory neurons to the central nervous system where the input is processed and a reactionary decision is made. The central nervous system can send a signal back out through the motor neurons of the peripheral nervous system to make the body respond to that stimuli.