New research reveals that Alzheimer's disease may impair nerve function not by reducing myelin, but by altering the proteins ...

The disruption of axons—the thread-like part of nerve cells that transmits electrical signals—is associated with Alzheimer's disease. One way axonal function may be hindered is through damage to the ...

Myelin is a sheath-like material that forms an insulating and protective coating around nerve fibers. ... Myelin insulates the axon by assembling specialized structures at the nodes of Ranvier.

The evolution of complex nervous systems in vertebrates has been accompanied by, and probably dependent on, the acquisition of the myelin sheath. Although there has been substantial progress in ...

Nerves are coated in myelin, but have tiny gaps called “nodes of Ranvier” where the nerve is exposed to boost signals. Right next to these gaps are “paranodes,” where the myelin sticks tightly to the ...

image: Using newly developed markers, the scientists were able to visualize axons, myelin, and nodes of Ranvier in vivo. A version of this image is used in the current article in Current Biology ...

Nerve fibers are surrounded by a myelin sheath. Scientists at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) have now made the first-ever "live" observations of how this protective layer is formed.

The myelin sheath surrounding the axons, ... These can vary in length and are separated by gaps known as nodes of Ranvier. ... the adjacent segments expanded to close the gap.

The findings appear online Jan. 27, 2011 in the journal Neuron.. Our hard-wired nerve fibers or axons rely on an insulating membrane sheath, the myelin, made up of fatty white matter to accelerate ...

Myelin surrounds and insulates the axon and builds specialized molecular structures at small, uncovered gaps in the sheath, which are referred to as the nodes of Ranvier.