[thedoc (OP)]

Paul Anderson  asked the Naked Scientists:
   
Hi Chris and team,

What is the chemical and  physical difference between a peripheral nerve cell and a central nervous system nerve cell? If one of each is placed in a petri dish and one of them is stimulated, is there any synaptic reaction between the two cells? If so, and as peripheral nerve cells repair themselves, what might be the effect of planting some peripheral nerve cells at the point where someone has broken their spine? Could they be encouraged to re-connect the upper and lower parts of the severed central nervous system? I suppose experimenting with stem cells is another option.
 
Regards
Paul
NZ
What do you think?

[RD]

... as peripheral nerve cells repair themselves, what might be the effect of planting some peripheral nerve cells at the point where someone has broken their spine? ...

This sort of thing ? ...  http://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/nasal-leads-paralyzed-man-walk/
[ NB: one swallow does not make a summer ].

[Tomassci]

Neurons in CNS- more association neurons
Diffetent glia(not what you asked for but it's nervous system).

[evan_au]

You could start here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuron#Classification

There are many types of cells in the brain, and not all their functions are understood.