Where are neurons located?

Neurons are found throughout the human body, even in the feet! They're not just in your head, as you probably thought. We tell you!

He human brain It has been studied throughout the history of science, due to its complexity. Inside this structure are neurons, cells specialized in forming the basis of our nervous system. Furthermore, these small cells They are responsible for allowing our body to function in a coordinated and efficient manner.

In this lesson from a TEACHER, we are going to delve into the depths of the world of neurons and we are going to answer one of the most fundamental questions, where are the neurons located?

Index

1. What are neurons?
2. Where are neurons found in the human body?
3. Parts of the central nervous system
4. How neurons work

Neurons They are the most important cells of the nervous system, since they are the responsible for controlling voluntary and involuntary functions of the organism. In our human brain we have approximately

That is, people between 20 and 30 years of age lose approximately 10,000 neurons a day. That is why it is so important to keep our brain active and take care of our nervous system.

The functions of neurons are the following:

• Receive information and signals of the indoor or outdoor environment.
• Process these signals and determine if the information is valuable and should be transmitted.
• Transmit the information and the orders to the muscles, glands, etc.

If they ask you where neurons are located, you will probably point to your head, but the truth is that these very important cells They are all over our body and they even reach the feet.

The brain is a fairly small organ and weighs between 1.3 and 1.5 kilograms. This organ generates all its activity thanks to neurons, specialized cells. Neurons are interconnected with each other and they constantly communicate through molecules called neurotransmitters.

So you can imagine, a neuron has a tree-like shape, with a main part (axon) and branches (dendrites).

The fact is that we can find neurons throughout the body, although it is in our central nervous system where most of these specialized cells are found. The central nervous system is made up of the brain and the spinal cord. Neurons are responsible for collecting information both from inside our body and from the environment that surrounds us.

In this way, we can conclude that the nerves that run through our body from head to toe, they are a set of axons that can be very long, such as the sciatic nerve, which runs from the spine to the tip of the big toe.

Here we discover the structure of neurons.

As we have mentioned, the majority of neurons in our body are located in the Central Nervous System, so let's explain a little more about their parts.

brain

The brain (we usually call it the cerebrum) and it is the part of the central nervous system that controls emotions, thinking, memory, touch, vision, breathing, hunger or motor functions. This divided into 4 main parts: the cerebrum, the diencephalon, the brainstem and the cerebellum. Each of these parts is responsible for processing information from the body and generates orders that tell the tissues of our body how they should respond to said stimuli.

These stimuli can come from abroad (cold, pestilence, noise, etc.) or inside (stomach pain, dizziness, etc.) Orders cover everything type of bodily functions, from walking to thinking.

Spinal cord

The spinal cord It is the continuation of the brain stem and is responsible for transfer information between the brain and the rest of the body. It also has the ability to generate commands, but only for the involuntary processes of our body, such as The reflections. For example, if we put our leg too close to the fire, our reflexes are responsible for us removing it immediately.

For a neuron to function correctly, certain essential requirements must be met. First of all, you need the dendrites of the neuron receive a nerve impulse. This impulse will then be sent to the cell body, to be received by the dendrites of the receiving neuron. This process is called synapsing.

exist two types of synapses in neurons:

• Chemical synapse: It requires neurotransmitters to transmit the nerve impulse.
• electrical synapse: It works only with the entry and exit of ions into the cell.

When are neurons formed?

To understand the way neurons develop we must go back to the moment when the fetus is inside its mother's womb. We explain a little about its process:

• 2 or 3 weeks after conception the blood begins to form. neural plate of the fetus.
• 2 to 3 weeks after the formation of the neuronal plate, the electrical activity of the brain.
• Starting at week 8 of pregnancy, generate neurons in the small brain and begin to distribute throughout the nervous system.
• A few weeks later the temporal and frontal lobes of the brain.
• During the fourth month synapses are generated that will only be activated when the fetus's body is ready.

We hope this lesson has helped you understand a little better. where are the neurons located and why they are so important for the proper functioning of our body. If you want to continue learning more about this topic or something similar, do not hesitate to consult our biology section, where we will discover all the secrets of the human body.

We leave you a video of the different types of neurons:

If you want to read more articles similar to Where are neurons located?, we recommend that you enter our category of biology.

• Llinás, R. R. (2003). The brain and the myth of the self: the role of neurons in human thought and behavior. Norma Publishing.
• Zuleta, E. b. (2007). The nervous system: from neurons to the human brain. University of Antioquia.