Why do peripheral neurons have long axons?

Answer 1

Because the cell bodies are in the spinal cord.

It has to do with how the nerve cells are build and the way they process signals.

The image below shows the anatomy of a single nerve cell. The dendrites receive a signal and pass it on to the axon. The axon brings the message to the target of the nerve cell. Most of the cell bodies of the human nerves are located in the brain and in the spinal cord.

Axons have to be long in order to reach every part of your body from the central regulating places in the brain and the spine.

So imagine you want to move your big toe. Your brain will send a message through a series of nerve cells all the way down to the end of your spinal cord. There the cell body is located of the nerve that will signal to move your toe. The received signal there, will have to travel along a very long axon down to your big toe.

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Answer 2

Lydia Adams

Since peripheral neurons are required to send electrical signals over long distances from the central nervous system to remote parts of the body, like muscles, glands, and sensory organs, they have long axons. This long axon length facilitates effective communication and coordination of body functions.

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Answer from HIX Tutor

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