Below are some terms associated with the functioning of neurons, which are the nerve cells that transmit information throughout the body.

Interneurons: Neurons of the peripheral nervous system; send signals back and forth between the brain or spinal cord and the limbs and sense organs
Sensory neurons: Neurons that transmit messages to the brain and the spinal cord from the sense organs
Motor neurons: Neurons that carry commands from the brain and spinal cord to the muscles and glands
Chemical exchange: the means by which neurons send and receive electrical signals associated with smell and taste
Mechanical stimulus: the means by which neurons send and receive electrical signals associated with sight, sound, and touch

What best explains why someone might feel no heat when poking a hot coal with an extended finger?

Explanation

The ability to extend the finger indicates that the motor neurons reaching from the spinal cord to the finger are working properly. But the lack of any sensation of heat suggests that the sensory neurons that carry the “heat” information back to the brain via the spinal cord are malfunctioning.

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