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Noback's Human Nervous System, Seventh Edition pp 39–71Cite as

Basic Neurophysiology

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Abstract

Every neuron is said to possess “in miniature the integrative capacity of the entire nervous system.” Neurons can transform information and transmit it to other neurons. In most, the dendrite–cell body unit is specialized as a receptor and integrator of synaptic input from other neurons, and the axon is specialized to convey coded information from the dendrite–cell body unit to the synaptic junctions, where transformation functions take place with other neurons or effectors (muscles and glands). To serve these tasks, the neuron is thus organized into (1) a receptive segment (dendrites and cell body), (2) a conductile segment (axon), and (3) an effector segment (synapse) (Fig. 3.1).

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Neuropharmacology and Neuroscience, The Albany Medical College, Albany, NY, USA

    Norman L. Strominger

  2. Highview Terrace 87, Hawthorne, NJ, USA

    Robert J. Demarest

  3. Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, University of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey New Jersey Medical School, Newark, NJ, USA

    Lois B. Laemle

Authors
  1. Norman L. Strominger
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  2. Robert J. Demarest
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  3. Lois B. Laemle
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© 2012 Springer Science+Business Media New York

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Strominger, N.L., Demarest, R.J., Laemle, L.B. (2012). Basic Neurophysiology. In: Noback's Human Nervous System, Seventh Edition. Humana Press, Totowa, NJ. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-61779-779-8_3

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