Kyro Chris L. Menor
BSMT – II
MT 30 (Lec) – DD

Histology Art – Nervous Stingray

Under the sea lies many unique and interesting organisms, but none fascinates me more than a stingray. They similarly move like birds, but underwater as their swimming approach is nearly identical to how birds glide and fly in the air. Just like birds, humans, and other animals, stingrays are only able to move through the movement of their flaps and muscles, which are controlled by the brain. Electrical signals are sent to the brain and back to the muscles through the different nerve cells in the nervous system. The nervous system is composed of two distinct types of cells: the neurons and the glial cells.

Neurons consist of three distinct types: the sensory, motor, and interneurons; with each of these cells having unique roles. Sensory neurons are the ones that detect and get information on the inside and outside of your body and send stimuli to the brain where they can be processed. Motor neurons are the ones that receive processed information from the brain and other neurons through an action potential, before sending it to the specified muscles, organs, and glands in the body. Interneurons act like a bridge between different neurons as they connect neurons from other neurons in the central nervous system (CNS). These neurons are crucial in the process and delivery of information, stimuli, and action potential in the body as without these, no organ, muscle, or gland would work and we wouldn’t be alive without it.

The other type of cells are the glial cells but although they are just secondary nerve cells, they are just as important as the neurons. Glial cells act as supporting cells in the nervous system, with some being a crucial part of neurons. First, astrocytes are the most abundant type of nerve cell in the brain as it is concerned with the regulation and control of blood flow in the brain, nerve fluid, and communication in the synapses of neurons. Microglial cells are macrophages and act as a protector and janitor of the brain as they remove and eat dead cells and other debris. Oligodendrocytes and Schwann cells both play a crucial role as both produce myelin, which is used as a sheath around the axons of neurons. This myelin sheath increases the speed of the action potential down the axon and towards other neurons.

The nerve cells found on the show how the nervous system is such a complex and meticulous system as these cells should be in the right place for everything to work accordingly. It reminds us of the magnificent power and creativity of God in shaping the human body.

Histology Art:
Google Drive Link:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/120Xn_s6sB4DFe8DKwOniiJJJQNXHecWg/view?usp=sharing

References:

National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. (2023, March 24). Brain Basics: The Life and Death of a Neuron. https://www.ninds.nih.gov/health-information/public-education/brain-basics/brain-basics-life-and-death-neuron#:~:text=Neurons%20are%20nerve%20cells%20that,were%20ever%20going%20to%20have.

Overview of neuron structure and function (article) | Khan Academy. (n.d.). Khan Academy. https://www.khanacademy.org/science/biology/human-biology/neuron-nervous-system/a/overview-of-neuron-structure-and-function

Ozturk, M. (2022, January 18). Microglia: The protectors of the brain. Science in the News. https://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2022/microglia-the-protectors-of-the-brain/

Picut, C. A., Brown, D. L., & Remick, A. K. (2016). Nervous system. In Elsevier eBooks (pp. 45–87). https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-12-802682-3.00003-3