The Utterly, Completely, and Totally Useless Science Fact-o-pedia by Wendy Leonard PhD MPH

Author:Wendy Leonard, PhD MPH
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
ISBN: 9780007519460
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers

Neurons

• While “neuron” can be the name for nerve cell, people generally use to the term to refer to brain cells.

• The average number of neurons in the human brain is 100 billion.

• The average number of neurons in an octopus brain is 300 billion.

• The rate of neuron growth during development of a fetus in the womb is 50,000 neurons per minute.

• The diameter of a neuron is 4 to 100 microns.

• The animal with the longest axon of a neuron (i.e., the long, slender nerve fibers where electrical impulses travel to communicate information) is the giraffe—whose primary afferent axon (extending from their neck to their toes) is a whopping 15 feet (about 4.5 m).

• The velocity of a signal transmitted through a neuron is 1.2 to 250 mph.

• Get this: If we lined up all of the neurons in your average human, end to end, it would span upwards of 600 miles (or about 1,000 km)! The math? That’s easy: 100,000,000,000 neurons x 10 microns (average length of neuron) equals about 600 miles (1,000 km).

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