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Peripheral nerve
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A peripheral nerve is a bundle of axons. Axons are the long extensions of neurons, the fibers the signal travels along, and a nerve is a whole group of them packed together, like a cable with many threads inside.
The same kind of bundle changes its name depending on where it sits. Inside the central nervous system, which is the brain and the spinal cord, it is called a tract. Outside of that, in the peripheral nervous system, which is everything else, it is called a nerve. The peripheral nervous system is made up of just two kinds of structures: ganglia and nerves. And in both places, nervous tissue is made of two basic cell types: neurons, which carry the signal, and glial cells, which form the scaffolding that holds them up and supports their work.
In brief
A nerve is a bundle of axons, or fibers, in the peripheral nervous system; the same bundle inside the central nervous system is called a tract.
A cable with many threads inside: each thread is an axon, and the whole cable is the nerve.
The central nervous system is the brain and spinal cord, and the peripheral nervous system is everything else; its structures are called ganglia and nerves.
Nervous tissue in both systems contains two basic cell types: neurons and glial cells, which support neurons and their activity.
Sources (1)
- OpenStax, Rice UniversityAnatomy and Physiology 2e, 12.1 Basic Structure and Function of the Nervous System
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