Question

How are neurons classified?

Answer 1

Neurons are the cells that are the structural unit of our nervous system. They are electrically excitable cells. A neuron consists of a cell body, dendrites, and an axon.

Complete answer:
Dendrites are short extensions coming out of the cell body. They receive incoming messages. Axon ascends from the axon hillock and is the conducting region of the neuron. After the generation of a nerve impulse, they are transmitted away from the cell body to the synapse.
Neurons can be classified based upon their functional or structural behavior. Based upon the structure, the neurons can be divided into three types- multipolar, bipolar, and unipolar. Multipolar neurons are those which have one axon and two or more dendrites; bipolar have an axon and only one dendrite, whereas unipolar has a single short process emerging from the cell body which later divides into two branches (proximal and distal branches).
The functional classification of neurons is based on the direction in which action potential travels to the central nervous system. Afferent neurons conveys information from the tissues and organs into the central nervous system. An example of the afferent neuron is the sensory neurons. Efferent neurons convey signals from the central nervous system to the effector cells. An example of the efferent neurons is motor neurons. Interneurons are the cells that connect the neurons to the central nervous system.

Note: There are many other ways to classify neurons. They can be classified based on their functions (on the basis of their effect on the target neurons) into excitatory neurons, inhibitory neurons, and modulatory neurons.