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How does nerve tissue send signals through the body?

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Vintage anatomy chart showing front and back views of the human skeletal system and muscular system, with detailed illustrations of bones and muscles. — human body Vintage anatomy charts of the human body showing the skeletal and muscle systems.

Nerve tissue transmits signals through the body using a combination of electrical impulses within individual cells and specialized communication at junctions between cells.1

Conduction Within the Neuron

Information travels along a single neuron as an action potential, a brief electrical impulse created by the movement of ions across the cell membrane. This impulse propagates down the axon like a wave. In many vertebrates, axons are insulated by a fatty layer called myelin, which allows the signal to jump between unmyelinated gaps known as nodes of Ranvier—a process called saltatory conduction that significantly increases transmission speed.21

Transmission at the Synapse

When an action potential reaches the end of an axon, the signal must cross a junction called a synapse to reach the next cell. This occurs in two ways:51

Chemical Transmission: This is the most common method. The electrical impulse triggers the release of neurotransmitters from vesicles into the synaptic cleft. These chemicals bind to receptors on the adjacent cell, potentially triggering a new action potential.345
Electrical Transmission: In some cases, ions flow directly between cells through specialized channels called gap junctions, allowing for faster, synchronized signaling.3