Nerve cell; conducts electrical signals.

1) A type of cell that receives and sends messages from the body to the brain and back to the body. The messages are sent by a weak electrical current. Also called nerve cell.
2) The basic cellular units of nervous tissue. Each neuron consists of a body, an axon, and dendrites. Their purpose is to receive, conduct, and transmit impulses in the nervous system.
3) The major components of a typical neuron include the cell body with the nucleus; the dendrites that receive signals from other neurons; and the axon, which relay nerve signals to other neurons at a specialized structure called a synapse. When the nerve signal reaches the synapse, it causes the release of chemical messengers (i.e., neurotransmitters) from storage vesicles. The neurotransmitters travel across a minute gap between the cells and then interact with protein molecules (i.e., receptors) located in the membrane surrounding the signal-receiving neuron. This interaction causes biochemical reactions that result in the generation, or prevention, of a new nerve signal, depending on the type of neuron, neurotransmitter, and/or receptor involved.