What are two ways in which neurons are classified?

What are two ways in which neurons are classified?

Neurons can be classified by the direction of the action potential or route by which information travels. Afferent neurons convey information from tissues and organs to the brain and efferent signals transmit information from the brain to effector cells in the body.

What are the structural and functional classifications of neurons?

Nerve cells are functionally classified as sensory neurons, motor neurons, or interneurons. Sensory neurons (afferent neurons) are unipolar, bipolar, or multipolar shaped cells that conduct action potentials toward or into the central nervous system.

Which of the following is a structural classification of neurons?

Structural classification of neurons is based upon the number of processes that extend out from the cell body. Three major groups arise from this classification: multipolar, bipolar, and unipolar neurons. Multipolar neurons are defined as having three or more processes that extend out from the cell body.

What is the difference between structural and functional classification of neurons?

There are three basic structural and functional classifications of neurons. The structural classification of a neurons depends upon the number of dendrites extending from the cell body. Unipolar neurons lack dendrites and have a single axon, and are also sensory neurons.

What is the basis for the functional classification of neurons?

The functional classification of neurons is based on the general direction of the impulse. Impulses traveling from sensory receptors to the CNS are afferent (sensory) neurons. Impulses traveling from the CNS to effector organs travel along efferent (motor) neurons.

What are the two major functional properties of neurons?

Individual neurons have two major functional properties: irritability and conductivity.

• Irritability = ability to respond to a stimulus and convert it to a nerve impulse.
• Conductivity = ability to transmit the impulse to other neurons, muscles, or glands.

Which of the following is unique to neurons?

Which of the following is unique to neurons? white, and composing the white matter of the brain and spinal cord/gray, and composing the gray matter of the brain and spinal cord. Which of the following is(are) a type of neuroglia? Which cells produce myelin in the brain and spinal cord?

Why is there a space between neurons?

The gap is an essential feature of the synapse, to make it an unidirectional switch between neurons. The synapse, with its synaptic cleft, establishes the contact between two neurons in such a way that the electrical signal can travel from one neuron to the next one only in a one way fashion.

What are the 2 main divisions of the nervous system?

The nervous system as a whole is divided into two subdivisions: the central nervous system (CNS) and the peripheral nervous system (PNS).

Is there an empty space in the brain?

Neurons, chemical messengers, electric signals—and a lot of empty space. The space between cells takes up a fifth of the volume inside our brains. And although all our thoughts and mental functions traffic through this vital region, scientists are just beginning to unlock its secrets.

What part of the brain has the most neurons?

With more recent estimates of 21–26 billion neurons in the cerebral cortex (Pelvig et al., 2008) and 101 billion neurons in the cerebellum (Andersen et al., 1992), however, the total number of neurons in the human brain would increase to over 120 billion neurons.