Sensory receptors

Sensory neurons also known as afferent neurons are neurons that convert a specific type of stimulus, via their receptors, into action potentials or graded potentials. This process is called sensory transduction. The cell bodies of the sensory neurons are located in the dorsal ganglia of the spinal cord.

This sensory information travels along afferent nerve fibers in an afferent or sensory nerve, to the brain via the spinal cord. The stimulus can come from extoreceptors outside the body, for example light and sound, or from interoreceptors inside the body, for example blood pressure or the sense of body position.

Different types of sensory neurons have different sensory receptors that respond to different kinds of stimuli.

The sensory neurons involved in smell are called olfactory receptor neurons. These receptor neurons contain receptors, called olfactory receptors, that are activated by the odor molecules in the air. The perception of these odor molecules is called a scent.

Similarly to olfactory receptor neurons, taste receptors (gustatory receptors) in taste buds interact with chemicals in food to produce an action potential.

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