bearing or conducting inward

Neural pathways are groups of nerve fibers which carry information between the various parts of the CNS. Neural pathways that connect the CNS and spinal cord are called tracts. Ascending tracts run from the spinal cord to the brain while descending tracts run from the brain to the spinal cord.

a neural pathway that conducts impulses from a sense organ toward the brain or spinal cord or from one brain region to another. Compare efferent pathway. a.

Afferent neurons – also called sensory neurons – are the nerves responsible for sensing a stimulus. Then, they send information about that stimulus to your central nervous system. These neurons are located in the central nervous system (the brain and spinal cord).

Neurons that receive information from our sensory organs (e.g. eye, skin) and transmit this input to the central nervous system are called afferent neurons. Neurons that send impulses from the central nervous system to your limbs and organs are called efferent neurons.

Efferent pathways carry signals away from the central nervous system. Afferent signals come from outside stimuli and tell your brain what they are sensing, such as temperature. Afferent neurons bring stimuli to the brain, where the signal is integrated and processed.

Afferent neurons collect data from the various sensory receptors distributed throughout the body and transport this information to the spinal cord and brainstem (sensory cranial nerves) for initial interpretation and distribution to CNS centers and structures that use sensory information in the performance of their …

The central nervous system (CNS) is the brain and spinal cord, and the peripheral nervous system (PNS) is everything else (Figure 8.2).

There are three broad functional classifications of nerves – sensory (afferent), intermediate and motor (efferent). There are key structural differences between these three types: Sensory nerves – small axons and psuedounipolar structure. Motor nerves – larger axons and multipolar structure.

Nerve impulses are extremely slow compared to the speed of electricity, where the electric field can propagate with a speed on the order of 50–99% of the speed of light; however, it is very fast compared to the speed of blood flow, with some myelinated neurons conducting at speeds up to 120 m/s (432 km/h or 275 mph).