The Human Nervous System

    As a collection of pathways for neurons (brains cells) that branches and monitors every crevice of your body, the nervous system  is a substantial part of your body which controls your day-to-day tasks. Breathing, eating, sleeping, and knowing your surroundings are all controlled by your nervous system and it is designed to do much more. Let me explain.

The nervous system is divided into 2 parts: The Central nervous system and the Peripheral nervous system. The two systems, Central and peripheral (CNS and PNS) act as a single unit depending on each other for our survival. Here is more.

    The CNS is simply composed of your Brain, and your spinal cord. This is the area that receives, processes and sends information in response to changes in the environment or situation. 

    The Brain receives and processes sensory information, does the thinking, judging, and your cognitive skills (cognition- things you remember from past experiences, such as the taste of pizza). Other regions of the brain are responsible for movement, voluntary and involuntary functions such as heart beat, breathing and digestion. 

    The spinal cord is the 2nd component of the CNS, and is a thick wire-shaped nerve that stretches along your spine. The spinal cord is the foundation shape for many nerves known as spinal nerves which branch off of your cord’s body and attach themselves to organs and skeletal muscles, or branch off from muscles and attach to your cord. It receives information from those many nerves and transmits signals to and from the brain.

    Moving on, the Peripheral system is the other main nervous system of the human nervous system. It includes all of the nerves and axons that branch off of the brain (cranial nerves) and the spinal cord (spinal nerves). Examples of cranial nerves are optic nerves (the nerves that connect the eye to the brain), the auditory nerve (carries sound information), and many others. 

    They bring in sensory information (stimuli) to send to your brain about the surroundings. The spinal nerves branch off of the spinal cord and connect to organs (to operate), skeletal muscles (for movements), and receptors (for sensory information), such as those on your fingertips, and tongue. 

    The peripheral system is further divided into 2 systems. The somatic nervous system, and the autonomic nervous system. (There will be information about both in the next post.)

    Now for an example of the PNS and CNS working together… let’s say your hand was placed on a hot pan. Neural receptors feel your hand burning and send information down spinal nerves to the spinal cord. Then, from the spinal cord the information gets sent to the brain. "Your hands are burning!" is the message. Your motor cortex in your CNS of the brain quickly responds by sending an impulse to the somatic nervous system in the periphery, telling it to move your hand. The peripheral nervous system’s SNS (somatic nervous system) then executes what the message says, helping your body avoid injury or damage to your hand.