motor neurons
Muscle-commanding nerve cells
Motor neurons are nerve cells that transmit signals from the brain or spinal cord to muscles, triggering movement.
They form the final link in the chain from intention to action—when you decide to lift your arm, motor neurons carry that command to the muscle fibers.
Damage to motor neurons causes conditions like ALS, where voluntary movement progressively fails.
Fibers tensing and shortening
- voluntary movementSelf-initiated bodily action
- action potentialNeuron's rapid electrical discharge
- nerve impulseElectrical signal through neurons
- acetylcholineNeurotransmitter for muscles and memory
efferent · excitation · innervation · reflex arc · depolarization · coordination
Motor neuron disease
- Lou Gehrig's diseaseDegenerative motor neuron condition
- polioParalytic viral infection
- neurodegenerationProgressive loss of neurons
- muscle atrophyShrinkage from disuse
Neuron's signal-sending projection
- dendriteNeuron's input branch
- somaBodily cells, excluding gametes
- synapseNerve signal crossing point
- myelin sheathLipid layer around axons
cell body · nucleus · cytoplasm · mitochondria · receptor · membrane · vesicle
Muscle electrical activity measurement
- EMGMuscle electrical activity test
- stem cell therapyTreatment using primordial cells
- cell cultureLaboratory technique for growing tissue
- animal modelsSpecies used in research
biomarkers · clinical trials · gene therapy · neuroprotection
muscle contraction
Fibers tensing and shortening
- voluntary movementSelf-initiated bodily action
- action potentialNeuron's rapid electrical discharge
- nerve impulseElectrical signal through neurons
acetylcholine · efferent · excitation · innervation · reflex arc · depolarization · coordination
ALS
Motor neuron disease
- Lou Gehrig's diseaseDegenerative motor neuron condition
- polioParalytic viral infection
- neurodegenerationProgressive loss of neurons
muscle atrophy · fasciculation · paralysis · weakness · neuropathy
axon
Neuron's signal-sending projection
myelin sheath · cell body · nucleus · cytoplasm · mitochondria · receptor · membrane · vesicle
electromyography
Muscle electrical activity measurement
- EMGMuscle electrical activity test
- stem cell therapyTreatment using primordial cells
- cell cultureLaboratory technique for growing tissue
animal models · biomarkers · clinical trials · gene therapy · neuroprotection
bulbar
Of the brainstem base
- interneuronNerve cell connecting others
- neuronsinterneurons
- nervous systembrain, nerves, spinal cord, axon, dendrite
- neuroscienceMRI, brain, synapses, dendrite, neurotransmitters
- Poliopolio, poliovirus, paralysis, iron lung, Jonas Salk
- motor systemvoluntary movement
- neurodevelopmentneural tube, neurogenesis, neuroblast, neuroblasts, neural tube defects
motor neuronssensory neurons
Cells transmitting stimuli inward
sensory receptors · photoreceptors · mechanoreceptors · proprioceptors · chemoreceptors
motor, motive, motors, motorist, motorized, motioning, motored, neuron, motorists