Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Neuron |
NeuronNoun1. A cell that is specialized to conduct nerve impulses. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "neuron" was first used: 1884. (references) |
| Domain | Definitions |
Computing | Neuron artificial neural network. Source: The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Many neurons have insulating sheaths of myelin around their axons, which enable their action potentials to travel faster than in unmyelinated axons of the same diameter. Formed by glial cells, the myelin sheathing normally runs along the axon in sections about 1 mm long, punctuated by unsheathed nodes of Ranvier. Neurons and glia make up the two chief cell types of the nervous system.
See also: F wave, Neuroscience
Anatomy
Many highly specialized types of neurons exist, and these differ widely in appearance. Characteristically, neurons are highly asymmetric in shape, consisting of a relatively fat central cell body called the soma, a much finer, cable-like projection called an axon, which may extend tens, hundreds or even tens of thousands of times the diameter of the soma in length; and projecting oppositely from the axon, a short, branching arbor of cellular extensions called the dendrites. Axon and dendrites alike are typically only about a micrometer thick, while the soma is usually about 25 micrometers in diameter and not much larger than than the cell nucleus it contains. An axon of a human motoneuron, meanwhile, can be a meter long.
Connectivity
Neurons join to one another and to other cells through synapses, which connect the axon tip of one cell and to a dendrite of another, or less commonly to its axon or soma. Neurons of the cortex in mammals, such as the Purkinje cells, have over 1000 dendrites apiece, enabling connections to tens of thousands of other cells.Types of signalling
Neurons stimulate one another across synapses chemically by rapid secretion of neurotransmitter molecules. They are known most, however, for their ability to undergo electrical excitation and to transmit this excitation along their axons as an impulse, called an "action potential." Arrival of an action potential at the tip of an axon triggers the release of neurotransmitter into the synaptic gap. Arriving neurotransmitters then either stimulate or suppress an action potential in the target cell, depending on the neurotransmitter and its receptor.Adaptations to carrying action potentials
The narrow cross-section of axons and dendrites lessens the metabolic expense of carrying action potentials, although fatter axons convey the impulses more rapidly, generally speaking. Neurons of the brain
There are about 100 billion neurons in the human brain.External Links
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Neuron."
Synonym: NeuronSynonym: nerve cell (n). (additional references) |
Crosswords: Neuron |
| English words defined with "neuron": afferent neuron, axon, axone ♦ dendrite ♦ efferent neuron, end-plate ♦ facilitation ♦ Golgi cell, Golgi's cell ♦ motoneuron, motor end plate, motor nerve fiber, motor neuron ♦ Neura, Neurenteric ♦ Purkinje cell ♦ refractory period ♦ sensory neuron, synapse. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "neuron": Accessory Nerve Diseases, artificial neural network, axonal degeneration, Axons ♦ bulbar neuron ♦ ciliary neurotrophic factor ♦ Hypoglossal Nerve Diseases ♦ ischemic neuron ♦ just another kinase ♦ McCulloch-Pitts neuron, membrane ion pump, Merkel Cells ♦ Neuroeffector Junction, Neurofibrils, Neurons ♦ perceptron, protein kinase C inhibitor ♦ Retrograde Degeneration ♦ Synaptic Transmission, Synaptophysin ♦ tétrodotoxine, Tau protein kinase, tetrodotoxin. (references) |
| Non-English Usage: "Neuron" is also a word in the following languages with English translations in parentheses. German (neuron), Romanian (neuron). |
| Domain | Title |
Books |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Health | Negri body in infected neuron. (references) | |
Neuron -- a nerve cell in the brain. (references) | ||
Each neuron consists of a body, an axon, and dendrites. (references) | ||
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| "Neuron" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 99.30% of the time. "Neuron" is used about 142 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 99.3% | 141 | 26,682 |
| Noun (proper) | 0.7% | 1 | 339,140 |
| Total | 100.00% | 142 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expressions using "neuron": afferent neuron ♦ bulbar neuron ♦ efferent neuron ♦ ischemic neuron ♦ motor neuron ♦ Motor Neuron Disease ♦ sensory neuron. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "neuron": neuron-free, neuron-friendly, Neuron-Glia, neuron-glial, neuron-like, Neuron-line, neuron-specific. | |
Ending with "neuron": z-neuron. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day |
neuron | 290 |
neuron picture | 39 |
motor neuron | 26 |
neuron diagram | 15 |
neuron part | 13 |
neuron structure | 13 |
hartmann neuron | 11 |
sensory neuron | 10 |
image neuron | 9 |
neuron function | 8 |
brain and neuron | 8 |
neuron synapse | 7 |
mirror neuron | 7 |
brain cell neuron | 6 |
journal neuron | 5 |
neighborhood neuron | 5 |
anatomy neuron | 5 |
lower motor neuron | 4 |
electrical model neuron | 4 |
corp ethernet neuron | 4 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Language | Translations for "neuron"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Chinese | 神经元. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Danish | neuron, nervecelle. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dutch | neuron. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Finnish | neuronispesifinen enolaasi (neuron-specific enolase), neuroninkaltainen käsittelyelementti (neuron-like processing element), McCulloch-Pitts-neuroni (binary threshold unit, McCulloch-Pitts neuron, threshold logic unit), kynnyslogiikkayksikkö (binary threshold unit, McCulloch-Pitts neuron, threshold logic unit), etuotsalohkon hermosolu (prefrontal neuron), dopamiinineuroni (dopamine neuron), dopamiinihermosolu (dopamine neuron), binäärinen kynnysyksikkö (binary threshold unit, McCulloch-Pitts neuron, threshold logic unit). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
French | neurone. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
German | Neuron. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Greek | νευρώνασ, νευρώνας (neurone), νευρών (sinew). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hebrew | עצבון. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Italian | neurone. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Japanese Kanji | 神経細胞 (nerve cell), 神経 , ノイマン型 (christmas, fungo, Hague, heart, Hercules, hook, knob, knock, knockdown, knocker, knocking, knock-on, knockout, knot, know, know-how, knowledge, nautical mile per hour, Neumann-type, neurosis, no, noctovision, nocturne, nominal, nominal price, nominate, nomination, nomogram, nomograph, non career, non cling, non store retailing, non troppo, non-attachment disease, nonbank banking, nonbook, nonchalant, non-conforming design, nonfiction, nonius, nonpolitical, non-professional, nonrun, non-sectarian, nonsense, nonslip, nonstop, non-terminal, nontitle match, non-verbal, non-verbal communication, Noraism, Nordic, Norma, Normandy, Norway, nostalgia, nostalgic, nostalgie, notation, notch, notchback, notch-filter, nova, Nova Scotia, novel, novelty, nozzle, number, swastika, unaffiliated, vernier calipers, vernier micrometer), ニューヨーク州 (neural, neural net, neural network, neuro-, neuro-computer, neuro-computing, new layers look, new leader, new left, new look, new realism, New Right, new roller, New York State, nimbus gray, nuance). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Japanese Katakana | ノイロン , ニューロン , し"けいさいぼう (nerve cell), し"けいかく. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Korean | 경 (nerve, nerves, Nervous, Neural, Neurotic). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Manx | neayr-chillag. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pig Latin | euronnay neurónio (B-neuron). (various references) neuron. (various references) нейрон. (various references) neurona (nerve cell). (various references) neuronlikt beräkningselement (neuron-like processing element), neuron i nucleus oliva inferior (inferior olivary nucleus neuron), nervcellens mottagande fält (receptive field of neuron), variabelt neuron (sigmoid neuron), tröskelgrind (binary threshold unit, McCulloch-Pitts neuron, threshold logic unit), presynaptiskt neuron (presynaptic neuron), prefrontalt neuron (prefrontal neuron), postsynaptiskt neuron (postsynaptic neuron), modulerande neuron (modulatory neuron), McCulloch-Pitts neuron (binary threshold unit, McCulloch-Pitts neuron, threshold logic unit), ineffektivt signalerande av neuronet (inefficient signaling by the neuron), dopaminneuron (dopamine neuron), dolt neuron (hidden neuron, hidden unit), dold enhet (hidden neuron, hidden unit). (various references) เซลล์ประสาท (neurone). (various references) nöron, sinir hücresi. (various references) нервова клітина (nerve cell), нейрон. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Greek | 700 BCE-300 CE | neuron. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "neuron": neuronal, neurone, neurones, neuronic, neurons. (additional references) | |
Words ending with "neuron": interneuron, motoneuron. (additional references) | |
Words containing "neuron": interneuronal, interneurons, motoneuronal, motoneurons. (additional references) | |
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"Neuron" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: meuron, Namron, narodni, Narudon, Naumov, Nauroz, nearo, necron, Neemrana, negroni, Neikrug, nekron, nern, neron, Nerone, nerson, neru, Neukom, neur, n'eurent, neuro, neurone, neurop, neurot, neuto, Nhuong, Niaruna, Niorin, Noburo, Noirin, nuero, nueron, nureon, nuron, Nyiro. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| Words rhyming with "neuron" (pronounced 'Neu"ron'): boron, Catopron, Charon, Chevron, Citron, Gyron, micron, moneron, Oxymoron, Perron, Pleuron, Polron, Pteron, Southron, squadron. (additional references) |
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "e-n-n-o-r-u" | |
-1 letter: rouen. | |
-2 letters: euro, neon, none, noun, roue, rune. | |
-3 letters: eon, ern, nor, nun, one, ore, our, roe, rue, run, urn. | |
-4 letters: en, er, ne, no, nu, oe, on, or, re, un. | |
| Words containing the letters "e-n-n-o-r-u" | |
+1 letter: fenuron, neurone, neurons, neutron, nonuser, reunion, unroven. | |
+2 letters: fenurons, neuraxon, neuronal, neurones, neuronic, neutrino, neutrons, nocturne, nonusers, preunion, renounce, reunions, unbroken, unfrozen, unironed, unornate, unperson, unproven, unreason, unthrone. | |
+3 letters: announcer, centurion, congruent, continuer, denouncer, encounter, neuraxons, neutrinos, neutronic, nocturnes, nonhunter, nonrubber, nonsecure, nonurgent, preunions, pronounce, renounced, renouncer, renounces, roundness, roundsmen, sundowner, truncheon, turnstone, unadorned, unconcern, uncrowned, underdone, undergone, undertone, unhonored, unmourned, unpersons, unreasons, unrounded, unsounder, unthroned, unthrones, untrodden. | |
+4 letters: announcers, benzofuran, burgeoning, centurions, coenduring, concurrent, confounder, congruence, congruency, conquering, continuers, countering, counterion, counterman, countermen, countrymen, denouncers, enamouring, encounters, enunciator, forerunner, foundering, funnelform, gangrenous, groundsmen, guerdoning, innumerous, interunion, journeying, journeyman, journeymen, mavourneen, motoneuron, neurogenic, neurotoxin, noncurrent, nondurable, nonferrous, nonhunters, noninsured, nonnuclear, nonroutine, nonserious, nontenured, numeration, outearning, outgrinned, pronounced, pronouncer, pronounces, quaternion, rebounding, recounting, redounding, refounding, remounting, rencounter, renouncers, renouncing, resounding, reunionist, roadrunner, rotundness, roughening, shotgunner, sundowners, tenpounder, tournament, tourneying, truncheons, turnstones, unanchored, uncensored, uncommoner, unconcerns, uncovering, undercount, underdoing, undergoing, undertones, unenforced, unforeseen, unforgiven, ungenerous, ungrounded, uninformed, unneurotic, unreasoned. | |
+5 letters: adjournment, antineutron, benzofurans, bourgeoning, boutonniere, coinsurance, concurrence, concurrency, concurrents, confounders, congenerous, congruences, congruently, conjuncture, connoisseur, counterions, countermand, countermine, counterpane, counterplan, countersign, countersink, countersunk, crenulation, encountered, encouraging, enshrouding, enumeration, enunciators, floundering, forerunners, forerunning, frontrunner, incongruent, inopportune, intercounty, interfusion, interneuron, internuncio, interunions, intravenous, manoeuvring, mavourneens, mensuration, mononuclear, monseigneur, motoneurons, mountaineer, nervousness, neuropteran, neurotoxins, neurulation, nitrogenous, nonargument, nonburnable, noncellular, noncomputer, nonconsumer, noncustomer, nondurables, nongraduate, nonrecourse, nonreducing, nonreusable, nonroutines, nourishment, numerations, onerousness, outlearning, outpreening, overburning, overfunding, overhunting, overrunning, overturning, preannounce, preluncheon, premunition, pronouncers, quaternions, rebuttoning, reencounter, rencounters, resummoning, reunionists, roadrunners, roundedness, roundnesses, ruinousness, scuppernong, shotgunners, supernation, tenpounders, tournaments, truncheoned, unabsorbent, unconcerned, unconfirmed, unconquered, uncontrived, unconverted, undercounts, underground, unfortunate, uniformness, unignorable, unmonitored, unobservant, unorganized, unreasoning, unsoldering. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
Hexadecimal (or equivalents, 770AD-1900s) (references)4E 65 75 72 6F 6E |
| Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519; backwards) (references)
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| American Sign Language (origins from 1620-1817 in Italy and, especially, France) (references)
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| Semaphore (1791, in France) (references)
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| Braille (1829, in France) (references)
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Morse Code (1836) (references)-. . ..- .-. --- -. |
| Dancing Men (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1903) (references)
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Binary Code (1918-1938, probably earlier) (references)01001110 01100101 01110101 01110010 01101111 01101110 |
HTML Code (1990) (references)N e u r o n |
ISO 10646 (1991-1993) (references)004E 0065 0075 0072 006F 006E |
| British Sign Language (Fingerspelling, BSL; 1992, British Deaf Association Dictionary of British Sign Language) (references)
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Encryption (beginner's substitution cypher): (references)487187848180 |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Commercial | 5. Quotations: Non-fiction 6. Usage Frequency 7. Expressions 8. Expressions: Internet | 9. Translations: Modern 10. Translations: Ancient 11. Derivations 12. Rhymes | 13. Anagrams 14. Orthography 15. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
