Tissue that carries signals
Touch something hot. Your hand pulls back at once.
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Step 1 of 3
- Dendrites and a cell body pick up a signal.
- A long axon carries the signal onward.
- Axon terminals pass it to the next cell.
Rule
Nervous tissue is made of neurons. A neuron gets a message at its dendrites. The axon carries it on.
A message is also called a signal.
- Neuron — a nerve cell.
- Dendrites — short branches that receive signals.
- Axon — a long fibre that carries the message away.
- Axon terminals — the ends that pass the message to the next cell.
- Reflex — a quick action you do not decide.
Neurons carry the signal from your skin to the muscles. Then the muscles pull the hand back.
This is a reflex. The signal reaches the spinal cord, inside your backbone. From there it goes straight to the muscles. The brain learns of it a moment later.
The cell body holds the nucleus. The nucleus controls the cell.
For actions you choose, the brain decides what to do. Nervous tissue carries that message to the muscles.