Messages within the brain and the rest of the nervous system are sent very rapidly. These messages are conducted by cells called neurons. Neurons are specialized to receive and transmit message and neurons are connected in networks. In...

In this lesson on the brain's neural networks, students investigate the structure and function of the neuron. They discover ways in which engineers apply this knowledge to the development of devices that can activate neurons. Includes...

Neurotransmitters can either stimulate the next neuron to send a signal or inhibit that neuron from sending a signal. Certain chemicals change the way signals are sent and received. For this lesson students will understand this concept...

Nervous system signals are transmitted electrically along individual neurons, but neurons are separated from each other by a tiny gap. Chemical messengers called neurotransmitters cross the gap between neurons. Neurotransmitters fit into...

Encyclopedia Britannica offers biographical information on Robert Hofstadter, Nobel Prize winner for his investigations on protons and neurons. Includes image.

Learn here about nervous tissue, tissue that is composed of two types of cells - neurons and glial cells.

Brain cells called neurons send information and instructions throughout the brain and body. The information is sent via electro-chemical signals known as action potentials that travel down the length of the neuron. These neurons are then...

In this full-color image, a neuron is expressing the light-gated cation channel channelrhodopsin-2 (small green shapes), and is being illuminated by a focused beam of blue light (coming from the top).

Learn about Charles Sherrington, the Nobel Prize winner in Physiology or Medicine for his work on the functions of neurons.

Nervous system messages are sent as electrical signals along the length of axons and dissolved salts are important for electrical signaling in cells. In this lesson students are introduced to this concept by creating an electrical...

Explains how cells send and receive signals. Includes a quiz that can be completed after free registration.

Two thirds of the population believes a myth that has been propagated for over a century: that we use only 10% of our brains. Hardly! Our neuron-dense brains have evolved to use the least amount of energy while carrying the most...

Students will learn the components of the membrane that establish the resting membrane potential, and find out the changes that occur to the membrane that result in the action potential.

This module focuses on the science that explains the effects that drugs have on the brain and, by extension, a person's thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Specifically, it focuses on the adolescent brain. Adolescents may be more...

A good description of the process of transmission across the synapse in nerve cells.

Read a passage about using darkness to cure Amblyopia (Lazy Eye) and answer the follow-up questions.

"Are you ready to go into the spaceship? Remember to stay very still!" This is what you hear before the bed you are lying down on starts to slide into a long, tube shaped machine. You can almost imagine that it really is a spaceship, and...

Prepare for the MCAT by reading this passage and answering questions based on the given table about how different viral doses affect behavioral or electrical abnormalities in mice.

Discussion of insects that show awareness of others of their own species although their behavior is highly regimented and instinctive.

The brain needs many different kinds of raw materials from food and ecommended serving sizes are often smaller than the size actually served or the amounts people eat. In this lesson young scholars are introduced to this concept by...