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Sensory neuron

 
Sensory Neuron

 
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Sensory neuron
 
 
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Sensory neurons or also known as afferent neurons are neuron
Neuron

Neurons are responsive cell in the nervous system that process and transmit information by electrochemical Signal . They are the core components of the brain, the vertebrate spinal cord, the invertebrate ventral nerve cord, and the peripheral nerves....
s that are activated by sensory input (vision, touch, hearing, etc.), and send projections into the central nervous system
Central nervous system

The central nervous system is the part of the nervous system that functions to coordinate the activity of all parts of the bodies of multicellular organisms....
 that convey sensory information to the brain or spinal cord. Unlike neurons of the central nervous system, whose inputs come from other neurons, sensory neurons are activated by physical modalities such as light, sound, temperature, chemical stimulation, etc.

In complex organisms, sensory neurons relay their information to the central nervous system
Central nervous system

The central nervous system is the part of the nervous system that functions to coordinate the activity of all parts of the bodies of multicellular organisms....
 or in less complex organisms, such as the hydra
Hydra (genus)

Hydra is a genus of simple fresh-water animals possessing symmetry #Radial symmetry. Hydras are predatory animals belonging to the phylum Cnidaria and the class Hydrozoa....
, directly to motor neurons and sensory neurons also transmit information to the brain
Brain

The brain is the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate, and most invertebrate, animals. Some primitive animals such as cnidarian and echinoderm have a decentralized nervous system without a brain, while sponges lack any nervous system at all....
, where it can be further processed and acted upon.






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Sensory neurons or also known as afferent neurons are neuron
Neuron

Neurons are responsive cell in the nervous system that process and transmit information by electrochemical Signal . They are the core components of the brain, the vertebrate spinal cord, the invertebrate ventral nerve cord, and the peripheral nerves....
s that are activated by sensory input (vision, touch, hearing, etc.), and send projections into the central nervous system
Central nervous system

The central nervous system is the part of the nervous system that functions to coordinate the activity of all parts of the bodies of multicellular organisms....
 that convey sensory information to the brain or spinal cord. Unlike neurons of the central nervous system, whose inputs come from other neurons, sensory neurons are activated by physical modalities such as light, sound, temperature, chemical stimulation, etc.

In complex organisms, sensory neurons relay their information to the central nervous system
Central nervous system

The central nervous system is the part of the nervous system that functions to coordinate the activity of all parts of the bodies of multicellular organisms....
 or in less complex organisms, such as the hydra
Hydra (genus)

Hydra is a genus of simple fresh-water animals possessing symmetry #Radial symmetry. Hydras are predatory animals belonging to the phylum Cnidaria and the class Hydrozoa....
, directly to motor neurons and sensory neurons also transmit information to the brain
Brain

The brain is the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate, and most invertebrate, animals. Some primitive animals such as cnidarian and echinoderm have a decentralized nervous system without a brain, while sponges lack any nervous system at all....
, where it can be further processed and acted upon. For example, olfactory sensory neurons make synapses with neurons of the olfactory bulb
Olfactory bulb

The olfactory bulb is a structure of the vertebrate forebrain involved in olfaction, the perception of odors....
, where the sense
Sense

Senses are the physiological methods of perception. The senses and their operation, classification, and theory are overlapping topics studied by a variety of fields, most notably neuroscience, cognitive psychology , and philosophy of perception....
 of olfaction
Olfaction

Olfaction refers to the sense of smell. This sense is mediated by specialized sensory cells of the nasal cavity of vertebrates, and, by analogy, sensory cells of the antennae of invertebrates....
 (smell) is processed.

At the molecular
Molecular biology

Molecular biology is the study of biology at a molecule level. The field overlaps with other areas of biology and chemistry, particularly genetics and biochemistry....
 level, sensory receptor
Sensory receptor

In a sensory system, a sensory receptor is a sensory nerve ending that recognizes a stimulus in the internal or external environment of an organism....
s located on the cell membrane
Cell membrane

The cell membrane is the interface between the cellular machinery inside the cell and the fluid outside.It is a semipermeable lipid bilayer found in all cell ....
 of sensory neurons are responsible for the conversion of stimuli into electrical impulses. The type of receptor employed by a given sensory neuron determines the type of stimulus it will be sensitive to. For example, neurons containing mechanoreceptor
Mechanoreceptor

A mechanoreceptor is a sensory receptor that responds to mechanical pressure or distortion. There are four main types in the glabrous skin of humans: Pacinian corpuscles, Meissner's corpuscles, Merkel nerve ending, and Ruffini corpuscles....
s are sensitive to tactile stimuli, while olfactory receptor
Olfactory receptor

Olfactory receptors expressed in the cell membranes of olfactory receptor neurons are responsible for the detection of odor molecules. Activated olfactory receptors are the initial player in a signal transduction cascade which ultimately produces a nerve impulse which is transmitted to the brain....
s make a cell sensitive to odors.

Fiber types

Peripheral nerve fibers can be classified based on axonal conduction velocity, mylenation, fiber size etc. For example, there are slow-conducting unmyelinated C fibers and faster-conducting myelinated Ad fibers
A delta fiber

A delta fibers, or Ad fibers, are a type of sensory fiber. They are associated with cold and pressure, and as nociceptors they convey fast pain information....
.

See also

  • Sensory nerves
    Sensory nerves

    Sensory nerves are nerves that receive sensory stimuli, such as how something feels and if it is painful.They are made up of nerve fibers, called sensory fibers ....
  • Afferent nerve
    Afferent nerve

    In the nervous system, afferent neurons , carry action potential from receptor s or sense organs toward the central nervous system. This term can also be used to describe relative connections between structures....
  • Pseudounipolar neuron
  • Efferent nerve
    Efferent nerve

    In the nervous system, efferent nerves ? otherwise known as motoneuron or effector neurons ? carry action potential away from the central nervous system to effectors such as muscles or glands ....