Question

Differentiate between nephron and neuron.

Answer 1

Hint: The neuron is the elementary unit of the brain however, the nephron is the basic structural and functional unit of the kidney.

Complete answer:

Sl.No	Nephron	Neuron
1.	A nephron is the principal functional unit of the kidney.	A neuron is the principal cell of nervous tissue.
2.	A nephron consists of the renal corpuscle, proximal convoluted tubule, Henle's loop, distal convoluted tubule, and collecting duct.	A neuron consists of axon, cyton, and dendrites.
3.	A nephron is specifically designed to filter blood.	A neuron is specifically designed to transmit information.
4.	Nephrons carry out the purification and filtration of the blood and produce urine.	Neurons conduct nerve impulses between different parts of the body such as other nerve cells, muscle, or gland cells.
5.	A nephron is made up of numerous cells.	The neuron is a single cell.
6.	Each nephron in the mammalian kidney is about 30–55 mm long.	The cell body of a motor neuron is approximately 100 microns in diameter and the axon is about 1 meter in length.
7.	The average nephron number is approximately 900,000 to 1 million per kidney.	In a human, there are an estimated 10–20 billion neurons in the cerebrum and 55–70 billion neurons in the cerebellum.
8.	There are mainly two types of nephrons— cortical nephrons and juxtamedullary nephrons.	There are four types of neurons: sensory, motor, interneurons, and mixed.

Note: Neurons are generally classified into four types based on their function.
Sensory neurons collect the stimuli such as touch, sound, or light that affect the cells of the sensory organs, and send signals to the spinal cord or brain.
Motor neurons receive signals from the brain and spinal cord to control all the functions from muscle contractions to glandular output.