EVERYDAY SCIENCE

Detailed explanation-1: -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-2: -Myelin speeds up impulses The myelin sheath contains periodic breaks called nodes of Ranvier. By jumping from node to node, the impulse can travel much more quickly than if it had to travel along the entire length of the nerve fibre.

Detailed explanation-3: -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-4: -Big axons result in fast transmission rates. For example, the squid has an axon nearly 1 mm in diameter that initiates a rapid escape reflex. Increasing the size of the axon retains more of the sodium ions that form the internal depolarisation wave inside the axon.

Detailed explanation-5: -Oligodendrocytes wrap axons in an insulating material, called myelin, that speeds up the electrical signals.