The axon’s job is to move the impulses away from the cell body to another neuron or a muscle. The travel process is similar to electricity moving down a wire. At the end of an axon are bulbous structures called axon terminals, which form special junctions that connect the axon to other neurons or muscles. These junctions, called synapses, involve tiny gaps that the impulse jumps over to leave the axon. The impulse then travels through the new neuron and will eventually move through another axon. This process will repeat until the impulse reaches its destination.

What isaxon in psychology

In a manner of speaking, the axon acts as the main road leading out of the “city” of the cell body. Impulses can travel through the axon very quickly and range in speeds from 1 to 100 meters per second. This very fast speed explains why your finger will move away really quickly if you poke yourself on a sharp needle.

Neurons are the cells that gather information in the form of impulses and send them throughout the body. The neuron is made up of the cell body, the dendrites, and the axon.

Axon function

Depending on where they are located, axons can vary in length. Most axons are smaller than a millimeter, but the axons found in the neurons located in the spinal cord can stretch for over a meter.

What isaxon in biology

The axon, also called the nerve fiber, resembles a long, threadlike fiber. Most neurons only have a single axon. In vertebrates, the axon is covered by a myelin sheath made mostly of fat, protein, and water. The sheath increases the speed that impulses travel.

Synapse, the space between one neuron's axon terminals and the next neuron's dendrites. Chemical messengers called neurotransmitters are found here.

What isaxon in neuron

Since the mid-1960s, microscopists have seen that axons can scrunch up to form beads when they are diseased or under other stress.

"Understanding the structure of axons is important for understanding brain cell signaling," says Shigeki Watanabe, Ph.D., associate professor of cell biology and neuroscience at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

If neurons are telephones that send messages between brain cells, axons are the lines that connect them, allowing communication across the brain.