5. Why Is Myelin Basically Biological Fibre Optic Cable?
Aug 24, 2026·
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1 min read
Xander Chu
Key Question
Why does myelin make neuronal signalling so much faster?
What You’ll Learn
- What myelin is
- How myelin electrically insulates the axon
- What nodes of Ranvier are
- What saltatory conduction means
- Why myelinated axons transmit signals efficiently
Key Takeaway
Myelin reduces current loss across the axonal membrane and allows action potentials to be regenerated mainly at the nodes of Ranvier.
The signal therefore appears to “jump” from node to node.
Next
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Authors
Xander Chu
(they/them)
Founder, XC Psych
Psychology student at UNSW exploring psychology and neurobiology from first principles, with a background in data science, machine learning, software engineering, and tennis coaching.