IUBio

Myelinization

Gary Jasdzewski gary at purdue.edu
Sun May 16 23:12:48 EST 1999


In article <373F2C0E.125A7267 at nada.kth.se>, Christian Guttmann
<x98-cgu at nada.kth.se> wrote:

>Mhm, I know that this substance improves Actionpotentials, but
>how. What magic kind of stuff is this? How does it exactly work?
>
>Thank you a lot for you help?
>
>I really looking forward to here from you!!
>
>Christian

Myelin is fat (Schwann cells) that coat an axon the more active it is. 
The effect of this insulating fat on the axon's ability to conduct a
signal is similar to the effect of good insulation on a speaker wire.  The
signal is less likely to be interfered with by other signals and it is
also less likely to "leak" out before reaching the synapse.  I find it
humorous that learning is really just putting fat on in the right places!

-- 
gary jasdzewski
   gary at purdue.edu
     



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