A Cup A Day

Did you know in the nervous system there are different kinds of neurons that carry impulses through you body? Let’s break it down to just the two main kinds:

Efferent – or MOTOR neurons that carry impulses away from the central nervous system (CNS) to effecters such as muscles or glands.

Afferent – or SENSORY neurons that carry impulses from receptors or sense organs toward the CNS.

But how does the savvy student remember the difference with just a letter ( E vs A ) differentiate the two?

Well, you could go back to the Latin roots and learn:

The Latin verb “Ferre” means “carry”

“Ex” means “away” –> ex ferre = carrying away (Efferent – motor impulses are carried away from the CNS to muscles)

“Ad” means “into” –> ad ferre = carrying into (Afferent – sensory impulses are carried into the CNS from skin and sensory organs)

OR

You could just channel your inner 10 year old boy like me and make a fart joke!

How do you smell A – FART?  (with a sensory A-FFERENT neuron of course…)

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For those wanting to elevate their knowledge after that hilarious low, remember there are also these kinds of neurons:

Interneurons – connector cells within the CNS

OK, ready to head back to the gutter?

Fart – Most commonly used reference to flatulence in the Enlish language. Immediate roots are in the Middle Enlgigh words “ferten” “feortan” or “farten” kin to the Old High German word “Ferzan”