Cells of the Central Nervous System and Communication 6.
Neurons carry messages using a chemical version of electricity.
The outer surface of all types of cells is called the membrane. The axons of neurons have special membranes that maintain a difference in the balance of positive and negative charges across the membrane, like a battery. Messages are carried, or conducted, along axons and dendrites by the change in electrical charge across the membrane. An 'action potential' is the name for an electrical message carried along the axon or dendrite of a neuron, like an electrical impulse carried along a wire. These tiny electrical signals would not be able to travel very far if the axons were not insulated.