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Function of Nerve Cells

  • Chapter
Human Physiology

Abstract

The nervous system - the subject of the first part of this book - is composed of nerve cells or neurons. The human brain contains about 25 billion such nerve cells; it, together with the spinal cord, constitutes the central nervous system (CNS). Only about 25 million nerve cells lie in the periphery or connect the periphery to the central nervous system. The nerve cells communicate with one another in a variety of ways by synapses, which far outnumber (by about a thousand-fold) the nerve cells. Synaptic contacts are also made with other types of cell, in particular receptors (information-receiving cells - e. g., in the sense organs) and effectors (e.g., the muscle cells). Because receptors and muscle cells have many functional features in common with the nerve cells, they will also be discussed in this part of the book.

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Authors
  1. J. Dudel
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Physiologisches Institut der Universität, Röntgenring 9, D-8700, Würzburg, Fed. Rep. Germany

    Robert F. Schmidt Ph. D.

  2. Physiologisches Institut der Universität, Saarstraße 21, D-6500, Mainz, Fed. Rep. Germany

    Gerhard Thews

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© 1983 Springer-Verlag Berlin · Heidelberg

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Dudel, J. (1983). Function of Nerve Cells. In: Schmidt, R.F., Thews, G. (eds) Human Physiology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-96714-6_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-96714-6_1

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-96716-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-96714-6

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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