ANATOMY

Detailed explanation-1: -The myelin sheath has three functions: Its fatty-protein coating provides protective insulation for your nerve cell, like the plastic insulation covering that encases the wires of an electrical cord. It allows the electrical impulses to travel quickly and efficiently between one nerve cell and the next.

Detailed explanation-2: -Much like the insulation around the wires in electrical systems, glial cells form a membraneous sheath surrounding axons called myelin, thereby insulating the axon. This myelination, as it is called, can greatly increase the speed of signals transmitted between neurons (known as action potentials).

Detailed explanation-3: -Myelin is an insulating layer, or sheath that forms around nerves, including those in the brain and spinal cord. It is made up of protein and fatty substances. This myelin sheath allows electrical impulses to transmit quickly and efficiently along the nerve cells. If myelin is damaged, these impulses slow down.

Detailed explanation-4: -By acting as an electrical insulator, myelin greatly speeds up action potential conduction (Figure 3.14). For example, whereas unmyelinated axon conduction velocities range from about 0.5 to 10 m/s, myelinated axons can conduct at velocities up to 150 m/s.

Detailed explanation-5: -Myelinated neurons conduct impulses faster than unmyelinated neurons because nerve impulses jump over the myelin sheath rather than travel through it, making the distance to the axon terminal shorter.