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Medical Definition of Unipolar neuron
1. A neuron whose cell body emits a single axonal process resulting from the fusion of two polar processes during development; at a variable distance from the cell body, the process divides into a peripheral axon branch extending outward as a peripheral afferent (sensory) nerve fibre, and a central axon branch that enters into synaptic contact with neuron's in the spinal cord or brainstem. With the single known exception of the neuron's composing the mesencephalic nucleus of the trigeminus, unipolar neuron's are the exclusive neural elements of the sensory ganglia. The lack of dendritic processes of these primary sensory neuron's is only apparent: the dendritic pole of the unipolar neuron is represented by the unmyelinated terminal ramifications of the peripheral axon branch. Synonym: pseudounipolar cell, pseudounipolar neuron, unipolar cell. (05 Mar 2000)
Lexicographical Neighbors of Unipolar Neuron
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