GLOSSARY

A sensory neuron carries information from sensory receptors (in the skin, muscles, joints, organs, and special sense organs) to the central nervous system; it is also called an afferent neuron.

Structure

• Pseudounipolar type: the most common in somatic sensation; a single process from the cell body divides into a peripheral branch (towards the receptor) and a central branch (towards the spinal cord).
• Bipolar type: in the retina, inner ear, and olfactory mucosa.
• Cell body: in the dorsal root ganglion or a cranial nerve ganglion, outside the CNS.

An Interesting Point

The sensory signal usually passes directly from the peripheral to the central branch