Zoom in close enough on a section of your brain and you would see a dense network of cells. The cells that create brain activity are called neurons, cells which carry an electrical signal from one to another. 

Neurons are the building blocks of the brain. 

Each neuron connects with up to 100,000 neighbours in the worlds biggest cuddle! To the naked eye, neurons appear as the "grey matter" of the brain. A piece of brain the size of a pin head contains approximately 60,000 neurons.

The Structure of the Brain Cell

Each of the neurons has a cell body. From the cell body project long root-like fibres. There are two kinds of fibre: axons and dendrites. Each neuron has one axon along which it sends electrical impulses to other neurons. Each neuron has a variable number of dendrites which have many branches. The axon from one neuron is attached to the dendrites of other neurons. The point at which they attach is called the synapse (we will explore this later in the tour).

Dendrites bring information to the cell body and axons take information away from the cell body. This is the process of thinking. When you learn, have an idea, remember something, feel sexually aroused, communicate etc., your neurons are receiving and transmitting information throughout your brain. We will explore the thinking process in more detail later in the tour.