Cells of the central nervous system may differ somewhat from those found in the peripheral nervous system. Since the histology of the central nervous systems is covered in Neuroanatomy, this course deals only with the histology of the peripheral nervous system. All neurons have certain features in common, but there are wide morphological variations from one nerve cell type to another.
Neurons consist of a cell body, containing the nucleus, and two types of processes.
There may be one or more dendrites. The single axon is specialized for impulse conduction away from the neuron. For this reason, basic dyes such as cresyl violet are especially useful as neural stains. Note the large pale nuclei in these cells and large darkly staining nucleoli. Look for multipolar neurons in the submucous and myenteric plexuses of the gut.