neuron

[ noor-on, nyoor- ]

noun

1. Cell Biology. a specialized, impulse-conducting cell that is the functional unit of the nervous system, consisting of the cell body and its processes, the axon and dendrites.

neuron

/ nr′ŏn′ /

1. A cell of the nervous system. Neurons typically consist of a cell body, which contains a nucleus and receives incoming nerve impulses, and an axon, which carries impulses away from the cell body.
2. Also called nerve cell

Other Words From

• neu·ron·al [noor, -, uh, -nl, nyoor, -, n, oo, -, rohn, -l, ny, oo, -], adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of neuron¹

First recorded in 1880–85, neuron is from the Greek word neûron sinew, cord, nerve

Example Sentences

Working with week-old zebrafish larva, researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine and colleagues decoded how the connections formed by a network of neurons in the brainstem guide the fishes' gaze.

From Science Daily

"After sleep, however, neuronal activity became more desynchronized compared to before sleep, allowing neurons to fire more independently. This shift led to improved accuracy in information processing and performance in the visual tasks."

From Science Daily

In them, the models have been used to study inter-areal processing, the neural code, and the relation between neuron connectivity and activity.

From Science Daily

Inside the hippocampus, several types of neurons are involved in memory processing.

From Science Daily

In the first-of-its-kind study, McGill University researchers detected a marked decrease in synaptic density -- the connections between neurons that enable brain communication -- in individuals at risk of psychosis, compared to a healthy control group.

From Science Daily