nerve impulses
The cell body contains the nucleus and other organelles. Dendrites and axons connect to the cell body, similar to rays coming off of the sun. Dendrites receive nerve impulses from other cells. Axons pass the nerve impulses on to other cells. A single neuron may have thousands of dendrites, so it can communicate with thousands of other cells but only one axon. The axon is covered with a myelin sheath , a fatty layer that insulates the axon and allows the electrical signal to travel much more quickly. The node of Ranvier is any gap within the myelin sheath exposing the axon, and it allows even faster transmission of a signal.