Synapse - SEM
Neuron cell body (purple) with numerous synapses (blue) magnified 80,000x under a scanning electron microscope.
This year, the word "synapse" will turn 117 years old. The word was first used in a book called A Textbook of Physiology, part three: The Central Nervous System, by Michael Foster and assisted by Charles S. Sherrington, in 1897.
It was probably Charles S. Sherrington who coined the term synapse. The word "synapse" is derived from the Greek words "syn" and "haptein" that mean "together" and "to clasp" respectively.
Reference:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synapse
Image via visualsunlimited
Credit: Dr. Don Fawcett
Would have made a great prop for the original Star Trek series. I can see Leonard Nimoy doing a mind meld with it to tell it humanity means it no harm. ;) Yeah yeah it's a single neuron but it looks like a pulsing overmind.
ReplyDeleteBitchin.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful.
ReplyDeleteOur awareness of the world around us, our consciousness, memory, all of it comes down to this.
ReplyDelete