cell body

American  

noun

Biology.

1. the compact area of a nerve cell that constitutes the nucleus and surrounding cytoplasm, excluding the axons and dendrites.

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cell body Scientific  

1. The portion of a neuron that contains the nucleus but does not incorporate the dendrites or axon.

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Etymology

Origin of cell body

First recorded in 1875–80

Example Sentences

Flip open any neuroscience textbook and the depiction of a neuron will be roughly the same: a blobby, amoebalike cell body shooting out a long, thick strand.

From Science Magazine • Dec. 2, 2024

Importantly, it was able to reveal the features where many synapses dwell: the spines that protrude along the vine-like processes, or dendrites, that grow out of the neuron cell body.

From Science Daily • Jun. 4, 2024

Among neurons, in contrast, the fusion happened farther away from the cell body, at long, thin extensions known as dendrites and axons, which are critical for cell-cell communication.

From Science Magazine • Jun. 6, 2023

Indeed, every 3-cm increase in axon length is calculated to add more than double the volume of the neuronal cell body to the axon each day.

From Scientific American • Sep. 29, 2022

The relatively deep stain of the nucleus and the small share of the protoplasm in the total cell body prevent confusion with the small forms of myelocytes, which never reach such small dimensions.

From Histology of the Blood Normal and Pathological by Myers, W.