Structure Fits Function

Have you ever wondered how your body moves, or how you send signals to do certain things? Well, your body sends signals through neurons. Neurons look like this. A neuron has dendrites on both sides and an axon in the middle. The neuron will get a signal through one dendrite on one side and that signal will travel through the axon and onto its other dendrite. This dendrite will send a chemical signal to another neuron. The neuron’s shape is important because the dendrites reach out to other neurons and send messages that go to the brain. They have long feelers that can send chemical signals to other neurons using synapse as a space in between each neuron. If dendrites were short and didn’t have those long feelers, they couldn’t send signals to anything. Then the brain wouldn’t get any signals, which means you would not be able to move, touch, smell, hear, or even pump blood. You would basically die within the first couple of minutes. Even 1 minute is a stretch because you wouldn’t be able to breath. It is important to have a space in between each neuron, and that is one of the most unique things about the structure. This structure allows for certain feelings or senses to go to the brain and others to be blocked by medicine. Like painkillers, they block off pain by clogging up the space in between neurons to stop the signal of pain. 

Unique things about a neuron

• They have dendrites that reach out to other neurons send signals to the brain. Their shape helps them with this because their feelers help them interact with other cells.
• They have a synapse which allows for medicine such as painkillers to block certain signals.
• They are able to interact with other cells and pass signals to other neurons.
• They can pick up signals from other neurons.
• Dendrites are everywhere in your body so they can reach any limb or any organ. They can also send signals up the spine as a sort of short cut.