Neurons Definition and 63 Threads

I’ve been trying to understand salutatory conduction in myelinated axons and want a better understanding of how depolarization at one node of Ravier causes an action potential at the next. Is it caused by the actual mechanical movement of sodium ions through the axon? There is an animated...

How sensitive are neurons and chemical receptors like olfactory receptors to the chemicals that stimulate them? Can a single molecule stimulate a nerve? How many photons does it take to stimulate a rod or a cone in the eye? I ask because I'm curious as to whether or not human thought and...

I'm looking for a published paper I can reference that indicates neurons interact classically (ie: no quantum entanglement between neurons). Is there any such reference?

I'm confused about the ability of neurons to repair themselves. My understanding was that most tissue was repaired not by 'mending' individual cells but by creating new cells by cell division (and that most types of neurons don't actually do this) and that cells just became more worn until...

Lots of current research showing that primates have hard coded values in the neurons of their prefrontal cortexes. See costs and benefits in the brain http://www.nature.com/neuro/journal/vaop/ncurrent/abs/nn1756.html Cardinal utility in the brain...

Can familiarity be explained by neurons or the brain ? how can that be ?

What problems does a neuron need to overcome to maintain the health and growth of the axon? I thought it has a problem with axon's length? Another question is: How would you estimate the muscle mass of a person? I know that muscle does not float, but adipose tissue does. Would I just...

In what ways, if any, is it possible to purposely control neurons? Thanks

I ran across this article in "Newsweek-Next Frontiers" about stimulating neurons directly by firing large magnetic pulses to specific locations in the brain: Address: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9557716/site/newsweek/ Well, I can imagine a much more "accurate" device which can affect...

Why are neurons shaped the way they are?

How does the brain knows when and where to store memories—memories such as a car accident? And how does it know whether to place the memories in long-term or short-term memory? Plus doesn't one hypothesis called: long-term potentiation (or LTP) have any basis on how the brain is stimulated...

This paper on the new quantitative biology section of the preprint arxiv claims evidence in brains of living rats of chaotic behavior matching that of a well known theoretical model of chaotic quantum mechanics. If verified, a true breakthrough.

I am trying to find out some information about the nerves that deliver sensory inputs into the brain. I understand that neurons in the brain itself share thousands of connections to other neurons. The neurons that deliver sensory information into the brain at some point meet the ones in the...