neuron

especially British, neu·rone
especially British,

[noor-on, nyoor-]

noun

1. Cell Biology.,  a specialized, impulse-conducting cell that is the functional unit of the nervous system, consisting of the cell body and its processes, the axon and dendrites.

neuron

1. A cell of the nervous system. Neurons typically consist of a cell body, which contains a nucleus and receives incoming nerve impulses, and an axon, which carries impulses away from the cell body.

2. Also called nerve cell

Other Word Forms

• neuronal adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of neuron¹

First recorded in 1880–85, neuron is from the Greek word neûron sinew, cord, nerve

Example Sentences

Spinal muscular atrophy is caused by a gene mutation that affects motor neurons, the cells that control muscle movement.

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This phase is the brain's only period when its network of neurons gets more efficient.

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A new preclinical study from investigators at Weill Cornell Medicine reports that hypertension disrupts blood vessels, neurons and white matter in the brain long before blood pressure rises to detectable levels.

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"It's literally like the way a neuron works, and it's working in an extremely fast synaptic-like fashion to regulate repair."

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Their study shows that neurons can release an enzyme outside the cell that activates pain signals following an injury.

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