Sensory nerve
| Sensory nerve | |
|---|---|
| Details | |
| Identifiers | |
| Latin | nervus sensorius |
| TA | A14.2.00.022 |
| FMA | 5868 |
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Anatomical terms of neuroanatomy
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A sensory nerve, also called an afferent nerve, is a nerve that carries sensory information toward the central nervous system (CNS). It is a cable-like bundle of the afferent nerve fibers coming from sensory receptors in the peripheral nervous system (PNS). A motor nerve carries information from the CNS to the PNS, and both types of nerve are called peripheral nerves.
Afferent nerve fibers link the sensory neurons throughout the body, in pathways to the relevant processing circuits in the central nervous system.
Afferent nerve fibers are often paired with efferent nerve fibers from the motor neurons (that travel from the CNS to the PNS), in mixed nerves. Stimuli cause nerve impulses in the receptors and alter the potentials, which is known as sensory transduction.
Afferent nerve fibers leave the sensory neuron from the dorsal root ganglia of the spinal cord, and motor commands carried by the efferent fibers leave the cord at the ventral roots. The dorsal and some of the ventral fibers join as spinal nerves or mixed nerves.
Damage to the sensory nerve causes a wide range of symptoms because of the amount of functions performed by the nerve. Traumatic injuries and other damages to the sensory nerves can lead to peripheral neuropathy, which in turn can lead to things such as chronic liver disease, kidney disease, cancer, vitamin B deficiency, etc.
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