The leap — signal is rebuilt, not carried
The finding
Nodes of Ranvier are 1–3 µm bare gaps in the myelin sheath, separated by internodes of 1–1.5 mm. The action potential leaps the gaps and is regenerated to full amplitude at each one, taking conduction from 0.5–10 m/s to as much as 150 m/s. Roughly 0.1% of the axon’s length performs 100% of the regeneration.
What it makes us do
We find the handful of places in your organization where information must be rebuilt to full strength, and we build only there. Everything else is insulation.