Museum Company Neuron Pendant - Dendritic Tree - Biology & Science

Our neuron pendant is a representation of the neuron which is an electrically excitable cell that processes and transmits information through electrical and chemical signals. These signals between neurons occur via specialized connections called synapses. Neurons connect to each other to form neural networks. Neurons are major components of the brain and spinal cord of the central nervous system, and of the autonomic ganglia of the peripheral nervous system.

A typical neuron consists of a cell body (soma), dendrites, and an axon. Dendrites are thin structures that arise from the cell body, often extending for hundreds of micrometres and branching multiple times, giving rise to a complex "dendritic tree". Neurons are electrically excitable, maintaining voltage gradients across their membranes by means of metabolically driven ion pumps, which combine with ion channels embedded in the membrane to generate intracellular-versus-extracellular concentration differences of ions such as sodium, potassium, chloride, and calcium. Changes in the cross-membrane voltage can alter the function of voltage-dependent ion channels. If the voltage changes by a large enough amount, an all-or-none electrochemical pulse called an action potential is generated, which travels rapidly along the cell's axon, and activates synaptic connections with other cells when it arrives.

1.5"H x 1"W Silver Plated Pendant on 18" Chain