Multiple sclrerosis (MS) (also called encephalitis disseminata)
There are disseminated inflammations in the brain and the spinal cord where immune cells attack the myelin sheaths of the nerves.
Here visible is a multipolar neuron that is bein attacked by immune cells.
Nerve cells normally consist of dendrites, perikaryon and axon. Dendrites (gr. Dendros = tree) collect impulses from other nerve cells and are visible in the upper left of this picture. The perikaryon (the body of the cell) is the conversion point of the dendrites and the origin of the axon. Here there are the cell organelles and nucleus.
The lower half of the picture shows the axon and its branched synoptic ends. It transmits the collected impulses to further nerve cells.
The segents of the myelin sheath of the axon are also visible. They isolate the axon from its surroundings which leads to faster signal transmission. Between the myelin segments are the myelin sheath gaps.
The attacking immune cells that are damging the sheath are also pictured.
