Neurons & MS
Ann Crickmer, MSW
Multiple Sclerosis is an infection-induced autoimmunity in a genetically-predisposed host whose main target is axons in the neurological system. In MS, the immune system attacks its own brain.
The nervous system is made of neural tissue. Like any other living tissue it is made of cells. The neural cells are known as neurons and everything indicates that neurons are the critical unit, the one unit essential to produce movements and mental activity. Neurons have three main components: a cell body, the cell's power-house complete with cell nucleus and organelles; a main output fiber known as the axon; and input fibers known as dendrites. Neurons are interconnected to form circuits in which one can find the equivalent of conducting wires (the neurons' axon fibers) and connectors, known as synapses (which usually consist of an axon making contact with the dendrites of another neuron).
A.1 A neuron and its main anatomical components
[Anatonio Damasio, The Feeling of What Happens, Body and Emotion in the Making of Consciousness, 1999, p.324]. Reproduction is for educational purposes only.
A synapse is the gap between axon and dendrite where chemical signals cross from one side to the other by means of neurotransmitters. Neurotransmitters are powerful chemical substances, secreted in small amounts at the synapses, that play the central role in controlling the flow of information throughout the nervous system; they amplify, block, inhibit, or lessen the microelectric signals throughout the body. We could say that someone with MS has a problem with their "electrics".
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