What role do Glia cells play in the neural functioning?

Essay by prieshUniversity, Bachelor'sA-, November 2003

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The nervous system include two main types of cells the neuron and the Glia cells. The nervous system are organised into two different parts, the central nervous system constituted with spinal cord and brain, and the periphery nervous system is dived into two branch's: the somatic nervous system (have three kinds of neuron: sensory neuron or receptor neuron gather the outside information such as sound, waves, odours, and tastes, the medium neuron or inter neuron which tie the sensitive neuron and the motor neuron, the motor neuron or effectors neuron control the contraction of the muscles) and the autonomic nervous system

(are responsible to control glandules and involuntary activities in the body such as rhythm cardiac). So the neurons are special cells that are capable to receive stimuli messages and transferring those stimuli for responses. The function of the neuron is to transmit message and these messages are in form of electrical impulses.

The Central nervous system provides the quickest means of communication and is connected with the peripheral nerves, which link the central nervous system with the body's receptors and effectors. The peripheral nerves receive changes in the external and internal environments; stored by the receptors, to the central nervous system that integrates the information it receives and sends appropriate messages, again via the peripheral nerves to the effectors that respond accordingly [Carlson R.1995]. For that reason the neurons is the functional unit of the nervous system they have four structures. Soma or cell body contains the nucleus and much of the machinery such as mitochondria. Dendrites, organs that receive the information from another cell and transmit message to the cell body. Axon is a long slender tube wrapped in a myelin sheath produced by support cells, (Glia cells - Schwann cell and oligodendrocytes) which conduct the...