Animal Tissues - Neural Tissue

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Which neuroglial component of neural tissue is chiefly responsible for support, protection and the overall functioning of neurons in the brain?

RankGuru · Accepted Answer

Neural tissue exerts the greatest control over the body's responsiveness to changing conditions, and NCERT notes that it is made of two principal cell types: neurons and neuroglia. While neurons are the excitable conducting units that generate and transmit impulses, the supporting framework is provided by glial cells, which make up more than half the volume of neural tissue and are responsible for support, protection and the proper functioning of neurons. Neurons themselves are the signalling cells, not the supporting component, so naming them is incorrect for a support role. Schwann cells are only one specific kind of glial cell associated with the myelination of peripheral nerve fibres, so restricting the answer to Schwann cells alone is too narrow to cover general brain support. Mast cells belong to connective tissue and release histamine and heparin during inflammation; they are not part of neural tissue at all. As stated in NCERT Class 11, Chapter 7 (Structural Organisation in Animals), glial cells support and protect neurons. A functional check confirms that the broad supporting population of neural tissue is the neuroglia, making glial cells the correct collective answer.

Animal Tissues - Neural Tissue

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