Their findings, published in Nature Neuroscience, contrast with the classical view of tubular axons. 2 The researchers propose that this shape is a ubiquitous feature in all unmyelinated axons; ...

However, when cholesterol was removed from the membrane, the axon's pearls lost their swollen state and had no change in the speed of electrical signals.

Axon — this long projection carries information from the soma and sends it off to other cells. ... As the membrane potential returns to its resting state, the K + channels shut.

The scientists named the pearl-like structures in which the axon swells “non-synaptic varicosities.” “These findings challenge a century of understanding about axon structure,” says Watanabe. The ...

When the neuron is triggered, it activates voltage-gated sodium channels at the beginning of the axon. This causes an influx of positive sodium ions into the cell, raising the voltage and depolarizing ...

However, when cholesterol was removed from the membrane, the axon's pearls lost their swollen state and had no change in the speed of electrical signals.

Biology textbooks may need a revision, say Johns Hopkins Medicine scientists, who present new evidence that an armlike structure of mammalian brain cells may be a different shape than scientists have ...