Featured Science and Innovations

The Neuron

The neuron is the basic unit of information processing and the building block of the brain. Working together with other neurons and cells throughout the body, it allows us to think, feel, move and breathe. An electrically excitable cell, the neuron works like a minuscule computer processor, operating as a single "gate": It has a digital output (it's either on or off), and it is able to, in an instant, receive the outputs of many other cells, process this incoming information, and determine whether or not to generate its own signal -- a pulse of electrical energy. This signal is then passed on to other neurons (sometimes as many as 10,000!) or to muscle or gland cells. Even though the neuron basically passes on digital signals, it can display varying levels of excitability, firing slowly when less excited and rapidly when more excited.

This interactive feature lets you experiment with a virtual neuron to see what conditions are needed to make it fire, and it lets you experiment with a circuit of interconnected neurons (neuron circuit) to see how neurons work together to process information. The feature also provides step-through animations that illustrate how electrical currents move down the neuron along the axon (action potential) and how signals are passed on from one neuron to another (synaptic transmission).

The Neuron [400 K]
Experiment with a virtual neuron to learn how it behaves.
Requires Flash plugin.

Neuroscience Research at Children's Hospital Boston