As you both look at your project, your bench instructor points out numerous mistakes in your project. You look at your project but you don't see these mistakes. The cell bodies of afferent neurons are located in the dorsal horn of the spinal cord, whereas the cell bodies of the efferent neurons are located in the ventral horn of the spinal cord. Afferent neurons have receptors on their terminals in the dorsal horn of the spinal cord that transduce physical stimuli into electrical signals. Afferent neurons send central axons that terminate in the dorsal horn of the spinal cord, whereas the axons of efferent neurons terminate in end organs such as muscle or glands.
Afferent neurons have one axon, whereas efferent neurons have one central and one peripheral axon.
Very soon after you open your dental practice, your first dental patient tells you that he had an injury to his spinal cord at the level of his neck. Specifically, his fasciculus gracilis and spinothalamic tract on the right side were severed in a car accident. In his right foot, he does not feel low threshold mechanical stimuli or painful stimuli. In his left foot, he does not feel low threshold mechanical stimuli or painful stimuli. In a demonstration in class, we tested Ryan's ability to detect two stimuli that were spaced various distances apart.