Nodes Of Ranvier: Nature's Internet Speed Upgrade

Nodes Of Ranvier: Nature's Internet Speed Upgrade
neuroscience-memes, myelin-memes, neurons-memes, biology-memes, saltatory-conduction-memes | ScienceHumor.io

The neuroscience equivalent of going from dial-up to fiber optic internet! Unmyelinated axons crawl along at pathetic speeds while their myelinated counterparts zoom through the nervous system like they've got somewhere important to be.

Those beautiful nodes of Ranvier let signals jump from node to node (saltatory conduction for you nerds) instead of sluggishly creeping along the entire axon length. The graphs don't lie - we're talking 5x faster signal propagation!

Evolution really outdid itself with this one. Myelin sheaths: turning your neurons from sad Palpatine into unlimited power Palpatine since vertebrates became a thing.

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