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Classification Of Nervous
System

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Neurons

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Neurons are the basic building blocks of

the nervous system. These specialized
cells are the information-processing units
of the brain responsible for receiving and
transmitting information. Each part of the
neuron plays a role in the communication
of information throughout the body.

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• Dendrites : their purpose is to pick up information

from the surrounding environment and carry it
towards the cell body.
• Cell body : is the life-support centre and provides
the energy for all the cell activities.
• Axon : the axon transmits impulses away from
the cell body towards the axon terminals. To
speed the process of communication axons have
covering of myelin sheath.
• Most neurons just have one axon which can
range in size from 0.1 millimeters to over 3 feet
(Miller & Zachary, 2017). Some axons are
covered in a fatty substance called myelin which
insulates the axon and aids in transmitting signals
quicker.

• Axon terminals: at the very end of the axon is

the axon terminal, and this is what transmits
information to a neighboring neurons via the
release of neurotransmitters.
• Once these neurotransmitters have been
released, they get bind with the receptor site on
the dendrites of an adjacent neuron.
• And so the whole process begins again, with
dendrites sending information to the cell body,
and the cell body sending information down the
axon and onto the next neuron.

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Myelin sheath
• The myelin sheath is a layer of fatty material that covers the
axons of neurons.
• myelin sheath is to speed up the conduction of nerve
impulses along the axon.
• Due to this protection, the speed of transmission to other
neurons is a lot faster than the neurons that are
unmyelinated.
• The axons which are wrapped in cells known as glial
cells (also known as oligodendrocytes and Schwann cells)
form the myelin sheath.
• The myelin sheath is made up of broken up gaps called
nodes of Ranvier.
• Electrical signals are able to jump between the nodes of
Ranvier which helps in speeding up the transmission of
signals.

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Neurotransmitters and mental

disorders
• It is believed that neurotransmitters may
be responsible for many mental disorders.
For example, low level of the
neurotransmitter serotonin are thought to
cause depression, while excessive
amounts of the neurotransmitter dopamine
are thought to cause schizophrenia.

Classification of Neurons by
Structure

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• Unipolar Neurons -------- the cell body has

single extension, giving rise to both axon
and dendrites branches.
• Bipolar Neuron -----Extension at each end
of the cell body.
• Multipolar Neurons ----- they have several
extensions of the cell body. Every
dendrites have connection with axon of
different neuron and communication is
faster.

Classification of Neurons by
Function.
Sensory neurons allow you to receive information
from the outside world via your senses. For
example, there are sensory neurons that allow
you to see light, hear sound, feel things and
taste food.
Inter neurons communicate with other neurons,
and represent the majority or neurons in your
brain. They allow you to think, remember and
perceive your surrounding environment.

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• Motor neurons are neurons which

communicate with muscle fibers, the result of
which makes them to contract or relax there by
allowing you to move your body.

Example: When you hear your instructor is asking

a question in the class, sensory neurons carry
the information from your ears to your brain.
Inter neurons carry information through out your
brain, so you can interpret the sensory
information and think about what action to take.
When you decide how to respond, motor
neurons carry the information to your muscles,
so you can talk.

Neurons can be classed as being afferent (brining information to the CNS or

structure) or efferent (sending information from the brain or away from a structure).

Neural Activity

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Some Neurotransmitters