What is the role of myelin sheath in nervous tissues?

Question

What is the role of myelin sheath in nervous tissues?

Answer 1

have you ever seen lorenzo's oil? perfect movie capable of answering this question.

basically, lorenzo a young boy had a disorder because the myelin was missing. myelin protects and  is composed of fats.  

Answer 2

It increase the conductance velocity of the nerve axon by propagation through the nodes of Ranvier.

Answer 3

In addition to speeding up the impulse (as described by other replies), the myelin sheath helps to insulate the axon from other axons.  The axon is the long "wire-like" carrier of the electrical impulse.  Just like the wires in your house, the wires cannot touch (in your body, axons cannot touch) as that would create a short circuit.  

So, just as the wires in your house have a plastic covering for insulation, the myelin covering is created by cells, called Schwann cells as they were discovered by Theodore Schwann, that produce layers of fat and the fat insulates the axon from other axons.

You can find all of this far more quickly by simply going to google and typing in the words "myelin sheath."

Answer 4

It increases the speed of conduction of the nerve messages (electric charges) and allows the electrical messages to jump from node to node (nodes are created by divisions across the fatty myelin sheath). The nodes are called nodes of Ranvier. The thicker the myelin sheath, the faster the messages travel! I hope this helped, good luck!