PS101 Lecture : Chapter 3 Notes Notes on chapter 3 in point form
Document Summary
Cells in the nervous system fall into two major categories: glia and neurons: neurons: individual cells in the nervous system that receive, integrate and transmit information. Basic links that permit communication within the nervous system. Vast majority of them communicate only with other neurons. A small minority receive signals from outside the nervous system (from sensory organs) or carry messages from the nervous system to the muscles that move the body. There is no one single drawing of a neuron, there"s many varieties of types and shapes. Soma (cell body) contains the cell nucleus and much of the chemical machinery common to most cells: the rest of the neuron is devoted exclusively to handling information. Dendrites are parts of a neuron that are specialized to receive information: they are branch like structures, most neurons receive information from many other cells (sometimes thousands of others) therefore more extensive dendritic trees.
