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- Nerve tissues, highly specialized to
- respond to stimuli, are composed of
- individual cells called neurons and their
- associated support cells called glial cells.
- Neural cells consist of a cell body, which
- contains the nucleus, as well as
- extensions called fibers. Nerve cells,
- which can measure up to two meters in
- length, are thus well suited to
- transmitting messages from one part of
- an organism to another. Nerve cells
- convert stimuli into electrochemical
- impulses and transmit the signals down
- their lengths. Sensory neurons lead
- away from the receptor cells, where a
- stimulus is received, while motor
- neurons lead toward effector cells,
- where a response to a stimulus may be exacted.
- In between sensory and motorneurons may lie
- interneurons.
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