User:Jtwsaddress42/Projects/Project 3/Sections/Chapter 1/The Neuron As A Cellular Phenotype

Not every conducting tissue, is nervous tissue. Indeed, the presence of an electrochemical potential between the interior of the cell and the exterior of the cell is one of the fundamental aspects of cellular organization and energetics. The ability of cells to propagate an electrical current across a population predates the emergence of animals and multi-cellularity. What distinguishes neurons from other cells is:


 * They are only found in animals, but are not the only neuroid cell types in animals.
 * They have localized their points of electrical and chemical contact to specialized and restricted points of contact on the cell membrane, i.e. the presence of the synapse and the synaptic cleft.
 * They have an evolved a highly plastic physiology that is exquisitely responsive to epigenetic events and the prevailing physiological conditions that enables sustained recognition, memory and learning on the multicellular level.
 * The distal ends of multi-neuron networks innervate either sensory or effector cell types.