What is the difference between a nerve dendrite and a nerve axon?

Answer 1

Axons transmit signals away from the cell body.

Dendrites transmit signals into the cell body.

Axons also tend to be much longer than dendrites.

Dendrites are the branched projections of a neuron that act to conduct the electrical stimulation received from other neural cells to the cell body, or soma, of the neuron from which the dendrites project. Electrical stimulation is transmitted onto dendrites by upstream neurons via synapses which are located at various points throughout the dendritic arbor. Dendrites play a critical role in integrating these synaptic inputs and in determining the extent to which action potentials are produced by the neuron. An axon or nerve fiber, is a long, slender projection of a nerve cell, or neuron, that conducts electrical impulses away from the neuron's cell body or soma.

Answer 2

I'll try to answer my own question, as no one else has. dendrites: ELECTROTONIC impulse conduction; axon: ACTION POTENTIAL.

In DENDRITES, an influx of sodium ions from synapse ligand gates "bump" (electrostatically move) other sodium ions, along the dendrite, along the soma, with decreasing force (thus moving fewer and fewer Na ions as distance from synapse increases), until some Na ions are moved to "congregate" at axon hillock. This ELECTROTONIC conduction is very fast, but degrades in strength over distance.

For impulse conduction along an AXON, if sufficient Na ions are present at the axon hillock (from either/both sufficient temporal or spatial summation from dendrites) to open an initial voltage gated ion pore, then Na ions come in, which resultant voltage potential opens a next voltage gated ion pore, through which more Na ions come in , which resultant voltage potential opens a next voltage gated ion pore, and the same thing happens over and over again sequentially along the length of the axon, yielding a relatively slow but constant strength impulse. This is called the ACTION POTENTIAL.

In MYELINATED neurons axons, BOTH electrotonic AND action potential conduction occur, called SALTATORY CONDUCTION, and this is both relatively FAST (faster than just action potential, but slower than just electrotonic), and CONSTANT strength. This allows nerve impulses which must travel long distances to be able to reach their destinations quickly enough to be useful.

{{(NOTE: if my explanation is either WRONG or UNCLEAR, I hope someone will PLEASE fix it.)}can't see the need.}

Answer 3

Dendrite receives the nerve impulse while the axon gives off the nerve impulse. This is always the same in any nerve tissue. Nerve impulse = Dendrite----------->axon