A computer -- or any digital system which processes and stores information -- knows only two states: "on" and "off". While our brain may not be a computer, the signals of nerve cells can also ...

Genetic defects affecting tiny channels in human nerve cells lead to several neurological diseases that result from aberrant nerve transmission, such as episodic ataxia, absence epilepsy, and ...

At first glance, nerve cells would appear to be energy hogs. The brain accounts for only about two percent of a human's body mass, but burns through 20 percent of its energy budget. But transmitting ...

William J. Perkins, associate professor of anesthesiology at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine in Rochester, Minn., offers this explanation: ANESTHETICS WORK by blocking transmission of nerve ...

The vagus nerve is an integral part of your autonomic nervous system. This part of your nervous system controls the things your body does without your conscious input, such as breathing, digesting ...

AFTER transection of a motor nerve, the severed part of the axon undergoes progressive changes known as Wallerian degeneration. But before the degenerating axon loses its ability to conduct action ...

What Is Ulnar Nerve Entrapment? Ulnar nerve entrapment is when too much pressure is put against a nerve in your elbow by bones, tendons, muscles, or cartilage and it becomes inflamed or swollen. It’s ...

Researchers report that the mammalian microbiome can act as a sentinel due to its high responsiveness to exposure. Their research article (“Poisoning with Soman, an Organophosphorus Nerve Agent, ...