A sensorimotor pathway is like a road, or rather, two separate one-way roads,  like an  interterstate highway to and from your brain. The road to the brain is called afferent, and the road from the brain is called efferent.

 

For the ' to the brain' road, think of the  "A"  like 'Arrives At' in Afferent.  The afferent pathway carrys  information that  arrives at different parts of your brain (and spinal cord) that each process different things in the information.

 

For the 'from the brain' road,  think of  'sent.'  Efferent  'rhymes with 'sent'. This pathway carrys information that travels from brain (and spinal cord) to the muscles and other parts of the body.

 

During movement,  information about your bodys action's is sent to the brain via  mechanoreceptors, which are nerve cells in skins and muscles that detect differrences in your muscle activation (how tight or relaxed a muscle is),  your skin's shape and temperature,  and many other pieces of information you don't ever think about.

 

KAT Exercise: Hold you arm straight out in front of you. Notice how much it FEELS  like it weighs. Now bend you elbow- hand up, notice how it feels different- lighter. Wait wha??

 

Are there tiny little scales in your body that determine what weight your arm should FEEL like when it's in a certain position?  Well, no, but sort of. More on that later.