Neurons+-+TR

=Introduction= toc

Neurons are like gears in your body making everything able to move and have a function. Like gears neurons have special structures that will help with the fluency and movement of your body. Neurons have a certain function that keeps the movements of your body working just like the gears of a bicycle keep the tires able to turn.

=What are Neurons=

Neurons are the key part of the human body, they are like an email shooting messages to your brain. Without them you wouldn’t be able to to move, sense things , or have thoughts and feelings. The neurons are the part of the nervous system that carry signals all throughout your body, almost like an email being sent, allowing you to sense your surroundings, have feelings and thoughts , and controlling your body's movements( “Neurons”). Without neurons simple tasks like picking up the remote to watch your favorite show won't be as simple. Additionally everyone uses something called senses, the senses are what produce signals that travel through the neurons all the way up to the brain ( “Nervous system.”) The neurons process things much faster than the brain, one example of when the neurons are working is when you accidentally touch the iron, before your brain can even understand what is happening your hand is pulling away do to the senses being shot through the neurons and retrieving your hand away from the harmful object. Once your hand is fully retracted is when your brain comprehends what happened. Without the neurons you would have gotten your hand severely burnt, making neurons very vital to the human body. The Neurons have specialized structures to do it’s job as fast as possible so you don’t get burnt but in control of everything is the soma. media type="youtube" key="vyNkAuX29OU" width="440" height="250" = (Short clip on what a neuron is) = = Structures of Neurons =

Like a bicycle the neuron has certain structures that are beneficial to its structure. For the bicycle to work it needs its gears which is what makes the peddles able to move and do its job such as the soma of the neuron. The soma is the cell body, which is what produces all the protein need for the dendrites (“Parts of Nerve Cells and Their Functions). Inside of the soma is the nucleus (“What Is A Cell Body”), which is like the brain of the entire cell. Sprouting out from the soma are what are called dendrites. They reach out like fingers absorbing all the signals and messages sending them through the nervous system, according to “Neurons” dendrites resemble an electrical wire, their length helps the transport of signals. Sprouting out from the soma with dendrites around it is the axon, the axon is a tube like structure that carries all the signals away from the cell body. Surrounding the axon is a fatty substance that is called myelin sheath, this is the part that speeds the signals going through the axon up (“Neurons”). The nervous system is made up of many neurons making it so the neurons have to send signals from one neuron to another, when this happens the signals pass through what is called a synapse, it is a small gap between two neurons (“Neuroscience For Kids”). Each structure helps the neuron in some way although the neuron is not always invincible to diseases such as ALS.

=(Diagram of a neuron)= = = =ALS= Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, sounds like something very painful ,no? While you are never in excruciating pain, the pain is involved seeing as how the nerves in your spinal cord are slowly being destroyed. This disease is commonly known as ALS. According to “ Lou Gehrig’s Disease” when you have ALS your muscles will slowly weaken and become smaller, the disease slowly will make its way to the spinal cord, where your mass amount of neurons are located , it then attacks the side of the spinal cord with the nerves that nourish your muscles , without them your muscles have no way in replenishing themselves. The motor neurons are what control your muscle movements and the ALS will slowly start to ruin the motor neurons restricting muscle movement (“Lou Gehrig’s Disease”). As the muscles start to give out they will also give out in your diaphragm making it harder to breathe (Neurons). Some studies are now revealing that many people affected by ALS are starting to have their memory and word fluency affected (Brainfacts). Many people with ALS die within 3 - 5 years and are extremely lucky to if they can live up to 10 years. Although ALS is a very widespread disease there still is no cure to this. Visit this website to learn more: http://kidshealth.org/en/kids/als.html = Conclusion = Don’t take your Neurons for granted because without them you wouldn't be doing a lot of the things you love to do, like watching netflix all day. It wouldn’t hurt to learn even more about the neurons functions and structures and even about ALS because the more you know about your neurons the better care they will receive which is beneficial for the neurons and you! = References =