• Question: What are dendrites and axons??

    Asked by drlovemuffin to Fiona, Jane, Joanna, Michelle, William on 15 Jun 2010 in Categories: .
    • Photo: Michelle Murphy

      Michelle Murphy answered on 14 Jun 2010:

      (Wishing I could draw you a picture) Basically they are the spiky bits around the nerve cell (neuron). DendRITEs (rite bit) brings info into the brain and aXons (Xpel) send information away from the cell.

    • Photo: Fiona Randall

      Fiona Randall answered on 15 Jun 2010:

      A nerve cell has a cell body like any other eukaryotic cell. The difference is it has axons and dendrites which are processes that branch off from the cell body and they are the ‘wires’ if you like that carry the electrical signals from nerve cell to nerve cell. The axon is the branch that sends the message to the next cell and the dendrites of the next cell are the branches of the cell that pick up the message. Axons and dendrites connect by a synapse which is a special gap where the electrical message is carried across from one cell to another. The message carrier is a chemical called a neurotransmitter as it literally transmits the message from one nerve cell to the next.

    • Photo: William Davies

      William Davies answered on 15 Jun 2010:

      Dendrites are small branches which project from a neuron, and which connect to other cells in the brain so that messages can be passed along. In fact, the word dendrite comes from the Greek meaning ‘ tree branch’

      The axon is the longest dendrite, and can be longer than a metre – so neurons in the spinal cord for example can speak to those in your foot. The axon is covered by a substance called myelin, which is mainly fat, and which makes sure the electrical signals along the axon get passed along efficiently

    • Photo: Joanna Brooks

      Joanna Brooks answered on 15 Jun 2010:

      Hey! You can think about dendrites and axons as being like a tree branch: the axon is like a long slim branch that conducts electrochemical messages to the dendrites – smaller branches extending from the axon. Dendrites are projections of a neuron and they also conduct electrochemical messages.

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