Nervous Tissue

Nervous tissue is a tissue which is specialized to transmit messages within our body. Brain, spinal cord and nerves are all composed of nervous tissue. Nervous tissue contains highly specialized unit cells called nerve cells or neurons. Neurons have the ability to receive stimuli from within or outside the body and to conduct impulses to different parts of our body. The impulse travels from one neuron to another neuron.

A neuron consists of a cell body with a nucleus and cytoplasm, from which long thin hair-like parts arise . Usually each neuron has a single long part, called the axon, and many short, branched parts called dendrites. An individual nerve cell may be up to a metre long. many nerve fibres bound together by connective tissue make up nerve. The functional combination of nerve and muscle tissue is fundamental to most animals. This combination enables animals to move rapidly in response to stimuli.