![]() Interestingly, the term Agate used in reference to these dendrite-containing quartzes is actually a misnomer. This is very similar to the way that snowflakes form when liquid water is cooled, it forms into dendritic patterns as the water molecules freeze and crystallize, growing upon each other in intricate and beautiful forms. Over millions of years and cooling conditions, the tiny particles that were deposited into the host material solidify, crystallizing into a branch-like imprint. Īs water containing these oxides enters the crystal’s structure (known as the “crystal lattice”), the particles of black or brown manganese or iron are left behind. ![]() When manganese or iron oxides are deposited within microcrystalline quartz, and under the right conditions, the result is what we call Dendritic Agate. Sometimes, as in quartz, the dendrites can seep into the three-dimensional crystal structure and develop into much more elaborate formations. This often occurs along deep fissures, down a flat, narrow plane between rock layers, causing the dendritic forms to grow flat alongside the planes of rock in which the water flowed. So how do dendrites, these tiny tree-like images, wind up in our gemstones? When water rich in manganese and iron oxides flows through fissures and cracks in rocks or minerals, these metallic elements are sometimes deposited within the crystal structures they encounter. Appearing as tiny, whimsical landscapes, gemstones displaying dendritic inclusions give us a truly fascinating peek into the science of mineralogy and a glimpse at how nature likes to create these patterns. If you’ve ever looked at veins in a leaf, you can see that the pattern they make is not too different from the branches of the tree that the leaf came from.Īnother amazing display of fractal patterns are those that appear as dendrites (Greek, meaning “tree-like”) in rocks and minerals. The definition of a fractal pattern is that, if its large scale pattern is examined at a much smaller level, it looks exactly the same. These can be on a large scale, like the branches of trees, or infinitesimally small, like snowflakes. Send us feedback about these examples.Have you ever noticed that the patterns in nature repeat themselves? From tree branches to the way cracks form in the ground, to the web of our own human cardiovascular system, nature finds ways to build upon itself in intricate, regular arrangements called fractal patterns. These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'dendrite.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Kaitlin Sullivan, Health, This occurs by causing the structures that receive input from other nerve cells, called dendrites, to grow and branch, potentially allowing additional or altered inputs. Giedd, Scientific American, Exercise changes the wiring of the brain, creating more dendrites, or ‘branches,’ that facilitate complex communication. 2023 Gray matter consists largely of unmyelinated structures such as neuron cell bodies, dendrites (antennalike projections from the cells that receive information from other neurons) and certain axons. 2023 Previous research found the order in which a dendrite receives signals from its branches governs the strength of its response. Byclaudia Lopez Lloreda,, 7 June 2023 The synapse is the space that separates a dendrite or axon from another cell. ![]() 2023 Among neurons, in contrast, the fusion happened farther away from the cell body, at long, thin extensions known as dendrites and axons, which are critical for cell-cell communication. 2016 Rather than just sending messages from the axon of one neuron to the dendrite of another neuron - which is the typical model of neuronal activity - nearly half the fly's neuronal connectivity involved sending messages axon to axon, dendrite to dendrite, or dendrite to axon. Heather Pringle, Scientific American, 1 Oct. ![]() Recent Examples on the Web Moreover, the horizontal spaces between neurons in this subarea widened by nearly 50 percent, creating more room for axons and dendrites.
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