Most neurons follow the same general structural plan, but the structure of individual neurons varies and is adapted to the specific function a given neuron (or class of neurons) needs to carry out.

So if I were to draw a neuron-- let me pick a better color. So let's say I have a neuron. It looks something like this. So in the middle you have your soma and then from the soma-- let me draw the nucleus. …

So if I were to draw a neuron-- let me pick a better color. So let's say I have a neuron. It looks something like this. So in the middle you have your soma and then from the soma-- let me draw the nucleus. …

My neuroscience textbook classifies any neuron with two neurites as bipolar, and the diagram shows what you describe: the bipolar neuron has two axons going in opposite directions.

Most of your synapses are chemical synapses, meaning that information is carried by chemical messengers from one neuron to the next. In the article on synapses, we discussed how synaptic …

As you may remember from the article on neuron structure and function, synapses are usually formed between nerve terminals—axon terminals—on the sending neuron and the cell body or dendrites of …

Action potentials (those electrical impulses that send signals around your body) are nothing more than a temporary shift (from negative to positive) in the neuron’s membrane potential caused by ions …

The membrane potential of a resting neuron is primarily determined by the movement of K + ions across the membrane. So, let's get a feeling for how the membrane potential works by seeing what would …

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Learn about depolarization, hyperpolarization, and action potentials in neurons with Khan Academy's comprehensive biology resources.