Axons might also play a role in some of these safety measures.

When the signals sent

zooming down the axon don’t make it to its end, these measures don’t deploy. “Axons are
complicated, they have many branches,” said Huguenard. “At each of these branches is a
potential site where this failure can happen.” The research suggests each branch competes
for the signal as it passes, and this challenge sometimes stops it in its tracks.