Mondo Knows Facts
Nerve signals can travel up to 120 metres per second
Myelinated nerve fibres transmit electrical signals across the body in milliseconds
Electrical signals moving through insulated myelinated nerve axons can reach speeds of up to 120 metres per second, equivalent to over 400 kilometres per hour. This rapid velocity enables near-instantaneous sensory feedback and swift muscular responses.
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Tags: nerves, speed, nervous system
Nerve signals can travel up to 120 metres per second: the short answers
- Where does this come from, and can I check it?
- Myelinated nerve fibres transmit electrical signals across the body in milliseconds. The figure is taken from Encyclopaedia Britannica, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
- Is this really a human body fact?
- Yes. It sits on the Human Body shelf, one of 1,090 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
- What else can I read about it?
- The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.