nerve cell

noun

Definition of nerve cell

1 : a grayish or reddish granular cell with specialized processes that is the fundamental functional unit of nervous tissue transmitting and receiving nerve impulses : neuron

2 : cell body

Examples of nerve cell in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Migraine specialists are also exploring other treatments, including forehead and eyelid surgery to decompress branches of the trigeminal nerve, as well as transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), a noninvasive way of altering nerve cell activity. — David Noonan, Scientific American, "New Nerve Drugs May Finally Prevent Migraine Headaches," 1 Dec. 2015 Memories and learning are reflected in the number and strength of connections between nerve cells. — Robert Martone, Scientific American, "Early Life Experience: It’s in Your DNA," 10 July 2018 The researchers also used a new version of light-sensitive proteins, called CatCh, to increase how quickly nerve cells could respond to light stimulation. — Justin Chen, STAT, "Pulses of light restored hearing in gerbils. Could that lead to higher-tech cochlear implants?," 11 July 2018 For example, choanoflagellates have genes for proteins crucial to neurons, and yet their cells don't resemble nerve cells, King says. — Elizabeth Pennisi, Science | AAAS, "The momentous transition to multicellular life may not have been so hard after all," 28 June 2018 Must some nerve cells vibrate at some magical frequency? — Christof Koch, Scientific American, "What Is Consciousness?," 8 May 2018 But, Boldrini told Live Science, researchers began to suspect that was wrong: Studies in mice showed that even the older mice produced new nerve cells. — Fox News, "Elderly adults grow as many new brain cells as teenagers do, study finds," 5 Apr. 2018 Those nerve cells lose their ability to initiate and control muscle movement, which leads to paralysis and death. — Euan Mckirdy, CNN, "What is ALS, the condition Stephen Hawking lived with for over 5 decades?," 14 Mar. 2018 Many of the differences in the genomes of nerve cells are due to the presence of mobile genetic elements called retrotransposons. — Robert Martone, Scientific American, "Early Life Experience: It’s in Your DNA," 10 July 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'nerve cell.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.