The axon is a long filament that extends from the cell body (the soma) in nerve cells (neurons). Remember that the overall picture below is the neuron, or the communications cells in the neural network. Our focus here is on the center portion, or the axon.

The role of the axon is to carry nerve impulses away from the soma to the presynaptic terminals where the impulses are transmitted to other neurons or to muscles in the case of motor neurons. Axons can be very long, in some cases over a meter and carry impulses at a rate of anything up to 100 meters per second or greater. The greater the diameter of the axon, the faster the nerve impulses will travel along it. Many axons are clearly visible to the naked eye.

As we noted earlier in the section on neurons, each of the millions of neurons are separated by a synaptic cleft.

The axon carries the electro-chemical signals the length of the axon, but the signal will not cross the cleft to the next neuron. Here the signal is translated into specific neurotransmitters that will move the signal across the cleft to the next neuron.