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- News from the Institutes
First mechanism for cognitive disorders in schizophrenia found
Not only neurons, but also oligodendrocytes are essential
21.08.2025
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- News from the Institutes
A switchboard with precision
How the brain licenses movements
28.05.2025
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- Basics
- Structure and Function
Well-Connected
The brain functions based on neural networks that change and adapt throughout a person's lifetime
30.04.2020
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- Basics
- Anatomy
The Basal Ganglia
Whenever we perform a deliberate movement, core areas deep within the brain are involved.
23.08.2011
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- Page
Interactive
10.03.2017
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- Glossary
Action potential
In excitable cells (e.g., neurons or muscle cells), very rapid changes in electrical potential occur across the cell membrane. This event is the basis for signal conduction along the axon of the nerve cell. The action potential continues along the cell membrane and, according to the all-or-nothing principle, only occurs when the cell has been sufficiently excited.
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- Glossary
Amacrine cells
Amacrine cells are interneurons of the retina. They are located between photoreceptors and bipolar cells on the one hand and ganglion cells on the other. The name was coined by Ramón y Cajal and means "without axon."
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- Glossary
Bipolar cells
The bipolar cell is a bipolar neuron, i.e., a neuron with one axon and one dendrite located in the middle layer of the retina. It transmits sensory information from the photoreceptors to the ganglion cells.
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- Glossary
Efference
An axon (long, fiber-like extension of nerve cells) that conducts signals away from the central nervous system to peripheral areas, as is the case with motor function, for example, is called efferent. The opposite is afferent.
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- Glossary
Threshold potential
In order for an action potential to be triggered, the membrane potential at the axon hillock of a neuron must exceed the threshold value of approximately –50 mV (relative to the resting potential of –70 mV). This is the threshold potential. If the depolarization remains below this threshold, no action potential is triggered.
