A neuron (also known as a neurone or nerve cell) is an electrically excitable cell that processes and transmits information through electrical and chemical signals.
Our brains have about a hundred billion neurons that fire signals to communicate with each other all the time. These signals are electrochemical in nature, and travel from the cell body of a neuron through its transport stalk or the axon, to the next neuron – similar to passing the baton in a relay race. Every such firing signal is referred to as a spike, or an action potential. Spikes are produced in response to stimuli or spontaneously, and each spike typically lasts for 1 millisecond.
Neurons produce action potentials that are referred to as 'spikes' in laboratory jargon. Frequently this term is used for electrical signals recorded in the vicinity of individual neurons with a microelectrode (exception: 'spikes' in EEG recordings)
see Cell signaling.
see Neural signal.
see Signal transducer.
see MR signal