nerve cell

n. An individual unit in the nervous system defined by a cell wall and consisting of a cell body, an axon, and one or more dendrites. The cell body carries out the biological maintenance of the cell and sums the electrical impulses which are received via the dendrites. The dendrite or dendrites act as receivers for impulses from other nerves and may form as many as 10,000 synaptic connections with the axons of other nerve cells. The axon is a single tree-shaped structure that carries electrical impulses from the cell body down its length, which varies between a fraction of a millimeter and several feet in length, and causes the release of neurotransmitters at the end of its many branches, which may connect with as many as 10,000 dendrites of other nerve cells. Also called a neuron.