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What does MS do to the central nervous system? The brain and spinal cord are full of cells called neurons - the "brain cells" of popular usage - different types in different areas. Those in connective white matter tissue are the ones most liable to be attacked in multiple sclerosis. This type of neuron is a long thin cell which has a bulbous head (the soma) containing the cell nucleus and an elongated strand called the axon. The soma has thin, branched tendrils called dendrites growing out of it. These join to the axons of other nerves via a space called the synaptic cleft or synapse. Signals or nerve impulses travel down the axon where they are transmitted to other neurons via chemical signals (neurotransmitters) moving across the synapse. The axon itself is coated with a sheath of insulating fatty protein called myelin which aids the transmission of nerve impulses. A good analogy of the myelin's relation to the axon is the plastic or rubber insulation around electric wires.

In multiple sclerosis, certain white blood cells (called lymphocytes) in a person's immune system attack this myelin (abnormal for many reasons and these reasons are an area of controversy). The myelin gets stripped off the axons in a process known as demyelination. The effect of this bears many parallels to the rubber insulation on wire being stripped - some or all of the electricity in the wire will short out and the efficient conductivity of the wire will be reduced. When the myelin is reduced from the axon, the transmission of nerve impulses is slowed, stopped or can even jump across into other demyelinated axons. It is this process of demyelination that gives rise to the symptoms of MS.