Are there just millions of nerve endings everywhere on our body? Can we remove an individual nerve ending and examine it?
In: Biology
there are way more than that and we have removed individual ones and taken a look. Nerves are composed of neurons, specialized cells that make up our nervous system and brains.
General purpose neurons receive chemical input from other neurons. These chemicals open valves on the end of the neuron allowing charged ions to flow into or out of the cell increasing or lowering the voltage. Once the voltage hits a certain point a chain reaction takes place. Valves start opening letting charged ions into the cell raising the voltage further. This causes valves further down the cell to open. The voltage increase heads down the cell until it gets to the end of the neuron. Once it gets to the end it releases chemicals that can cause the next neuron to trigger.
You specifically mentioned the endings and they work a bit differently. The very ends have special neurons that where the valves open differently. Some are opened by light allowing us to see. Others are opened and closed by temperature allowing us to feel if things are hot or cold. There’s a bunch like this and all are different. Additionally, some that are attached to our muscles release chemicals that cause muscle fibers to fire.
It’s actually trillions. Your brain alone has about 100 billion.
You can remove an individual nerve and look at it, although they’re extremely tiny so you’ll need a microscope. Large bundles of nerves, like your spinal cord or brain, are easily visible with the naked eye.
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