Neuron

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The neuron is specialized cell in the nervous system that gathers and transmits information (neural impulses); it is a cell whose duty is sending and receiving information. The neuron is the smallest unit of life within the nervous system because it is at the cellular level of organization.

Parts of a neuron

Neurons generally speaking, have three (3) parts which are dendrite, cell body or soma body, and axon respectively.

Dendrite:  This is the branched part of a neuron that receives impulses and conducts them towards the cell body; it is the receptor part of a neuron which upon stimulation lead to action potential that is then move towards the cell body.

Cell body: This is the part of a neuron that contains the metabolic machinery that keeps the cell alive and functional. It is the part of a neuron that houses the nucleus and every other element needed by the cell for its metabolic activity.

Axon: This is the part of the neuron that convey the neural impulses to glands, muscles, or other neurons. It is the “output” side of the neuron and sends neural impulses to adjacent neurons. axon usually extend outward from the cell body like a wispy thread, and it divides into several branches at its end called axon terminals.

Types of neurons

Neurons usually comes in four type vis – a- vis; Afferent neuron, efferent neuron, Projection neuron, and interneuron.

Afferent neurons: Afferent neurons by nature are neurons that covey neural messages from both the internal and external environment of the body towards the central nervous system.

Efferent neurons: Efferent neurons are neurons that carries message outward from the central nervous system to the effector site such as muscles and glands. This neuron comes with long axon.

Projection neurons: Projection neurons are neurons that are neither afferent nor efferent, but instead they are neurons that link one are of the central nervous system with another. They achieve this due to their extremely long axon.

Interneurons: Interneurons are also neurons that neither afferent nor efferent in nature. Instead they help to connect neurons to each other.

Note: sometimes interneuron is used to denote both projection neuron and interneuron

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