To carry nerve impulses over long distances, a neural prosthetic should mimic which part of a neuron?
The elongated axon with myelin sheath
In a neuron, the dendrites receive signals, the cell body processes them, and the axon conducts the nerve impulse away from the cell body, often over long distances (in humans some axons are about a metre long).
Many axons are covered by a myelin sheath, an insulating layer with gaps called nodes of Ranvier. The impulse jumps from node to node (saltatory conduction), which makes conduction fast and prevents signal loss. A prosthetic meant to carry impulses over long distances should copy this long, insulated conductor.
Dendrites are short and only receive signals near the cell body; the cell body contains the nucleus and maintains the cell but does not transmit impulses over distance; synaptic terminals only pass the signal to the next cell across the synapse.
Hence, the prosthetic should mimic the elongated axon with myelin sheath.
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Important Questions from Nervous System
Nerve impulses are carried from the eye to the brain by the -
A neuron with many short dendrites and a single long axon is a -
The covering of brain is known as _______.
Bipolar neurons are found in ______.
-------- lens present in the human eye.
