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neuron: Quick Facts

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Scientists discover a surprising secret behind the human brain’s wrinkles • Oct. 22, 2026, 6:12 AM ET (Science Daily)
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AI reveals a shared language guiding cell development • Oct. 16, 2026, 11:20 AM ET (Phys.org)

Facts

Also Known As nerve cell • neurone

Photos and Videos

Neuron
A simplified diagram of a neuron showing labeled parts: dendrites, cell body with nucleus, myelin sheath on the axon, and synapse, with arrows indicating the direction of nerve impulse.
neuron from visual cortex of a rat
Diagram of a neuron showing the cell body with nucleus, branching dendrites, a long axon covered by myelin sheaths from Schwann cells, and nodes of Ranvier. Labels identify the nerve impulse path, axon terminals, and synapses, with an inset highlighting the myelin sheath and node structure.
Diagram of a simple feedforward neural network showing three layers: green input nodes at the bottom, yellow hidden layer nodes in the middle, and blue output nodes at the top, with arrows indicating one-way signal flow from input to output.
Hear a neuroscientist Christof Koch speaks about how a neuron identifies selective encoding and coding to specific memories
Learn about optogenetics and its possible use in treating brain disorders
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Related Topics and References

Topics
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Key People

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Paul Alfred Weiss
American biologist
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Rudolf Jaenisch
German biologist
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Fred H. Gage
American geneticist
John J. Hopfield
John J. Hopfield
American physicist
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Thomas C. Südhof
German-American neuroscientist
Sir Charles Sherrington
Sir Charles Scott Sherrington
British physiologist
The Golgi apparatus was observed in 1897 by Italian cytologist Camillo Golgi
Camillo Golgi
Italian physician and cytologist
Santiago Ramón y Cajal.
Santiago Ramón y Cajal
Spanish histologist
Wilhelm His, c. 1900
Wilhelm His
Swiss-born German anatomist and embryologist
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A.R. Luria
Soviet neuropsychologist