Every time you wiggle your toes, lower motor neurons are at work. They carry the message from your spinal cord right to your muscles.
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Lower motor neurons have their cell body in your spinal cord or brainstem. Their long axon leaves through a nerve and travels out to a muscle.
At the end, the axon splits into little tips that touch the muscle. That meeting spot is called the neuromuscular junction.
The axons that reach your foot muscles start in your lower back. Some are about as long as your leg!
When the message arrives, the axon tips let out a chemical messenger. The muscle feels it and squeezes. That is how you walk, talk, blink, and smile.
Lower motor neurons get their orders from upper motor neurons in your brain. They can also get quick messages inside the spinal cord, like when you pull your hand away from something hot.
Wiggle your toes. Messages just raced down lower motor neurons to the muscles in your feet! Then press Squeeze the muscle on the 3D model.