neuron

[noo r-on, nyoo r-] /ˈnʊər ɒn, ˈnyʊər-/
noun
1.
Cell Biology. a specialized, impulse-conducting cell that is the functional unit of the nervous system, consisting of the cell body and its processes, the axon and dendrites.
Also, especially British, neurone
[noo r-ohn, nyoo r-] /ˈnʊər oʊn, ˈnyʊər-/ (Show IPA).
Also called nerve cell.
Compare synapse.
Origin
1880-85; < Greek neûron sinew, cord, nerve
Related forms
neuronal
[noo r-uh-nl, nyoo r-, noo-rohn-l, nyoo-] /ˈnʊər ə nl, ˈnyʊər-, nʊˈroʊn l, nyʊ-/ (Show IPA), adjective
Examples from the web for neurons
  • The human brain may contain up to one trillion neurons.
  • Researchers have found a way to help the brain replace damaged neurons in mice.
  • Scientists have long wondered whether the brain contains neurons that fire in response to a familiar face.
  • For years, scientists believed that damaged nerve tissue could not be repaired because neurons are incapable of regeneration.
  • Rat neurons can be used to control simple robots, researchers report.
  • Reading builds neurons and synapses and actually increases your brain power.
  • But older people, doing the same task, recruited neurons from a parallel spot in the opposite hemisphere.
  • Because neurons for hand and/or lap and knees can not be at the same place in the brain.
  • Maybe this mind is compelled by an obsession buried in its neurons.
  • They forge new combinations almost as neurons form synapses to create new thoughts.
Word Origin and History for neurons

neuron

n.

"a nerve cell with appendages," 1891, from German Neuron, from Greek neuron (see neuro-). Used earlier (1884) for "the spinal cord and brain."

neurons in Medicine

neuron neu·ron (nur'ŏn', nyur'-) or neu·rone (-ōn')
n.
Any of the impulse-conducting cells that constitute the brain, spinal column, and nerves, consisting of a nucleated cell body with one or more dendrites and a single axon. Also called nerve cell, neurocyte.

neurons in Science
neuron
  (nr'ŏn')   

A cell of the nervous system. Neurons typically consist of a cell body, which contains a nucleus and receives incoming nerve impulses, and an axon, which carries impulses away from the cell body. Also called nerve cell.
neurons in Culture
neurons [(noor-onz, nyoor-onz)]

The basic unit of nerve tissue; the nerve cells. Neurons carry and transmit electrical signals throughout the nervous system.