The Divisions of the Nervous System

• The nervous system has 2 parts; the central nervous system (CNS) and the peripheral nervous system (PNS).
• The CNS consists of the brain and the spinal cord.
• The brain provides conscious awareness and is involved in all psychological processes.
• The brain consists of many regions, which are responsible for different functions.
• The brain consists of four main lobes; frontal lobe, parietal lobe, temporal lobe and occipital lobe.
• The occipital lobe processes visual information.
• The temporal lobe processes auditory information.
• The parietal lobe integrates information from the different senses and therefore plays an important role in spatial navigation.
• The frontal lobe is associated with higher-order functions, including planning, abstract reasoning and logic.
• The brain stem connects the brain and spinal cord and controls involuntary processes, including our heartbeat, breathing and consciousness.
• The role of the spinal cord is to transfer messages to and from the brain, and the rest of the body.
• The spinal cord is also responsible for simple reflex actions that do not involve the brain, for example jumping out of your chair if you sit on a drawing pin.
• The role of the peripheral nervous system (PNS) is to relay messages (nerve impulses) from the CNS (brain and spinal cord) to the rest of the body.
• The PNS consists of two main components; the somatic nervous system and the autonomic nervous system.
• The somatic nervous system facilitates communication between the CNS and the outside world.
• The role of the somatic nervous system is to carry sensory information from the outside world to the brain and provide muscle responses via the motor pathways.
• The somatic nervous system is made up of sensory receptors that carry information to the spinal cord and brain, and motor pathways that allow the brain to control movement.
• The autonomic nervous system plays an important role in homeostasis, which maintains internal processes like body temperature, heart rate and blood pressure.
• The autonomic nervous system only consists of motor pathways and has two components; the sympathetic nervous system and the parasympathetic nervous system.
• The sympathetic nervous system is typically involved in responses that prepare the body for fight or flight.
• Impulses travel from the sympathetic nervous system to organs in the body to help us prepare for action when we are faced with a dangerous situation.
• The role of the parasympathetic nervous system is to relax the body and return us to our ‘normal’ resting state.
• The parasympathetic nervous system slows down our heart rate and breathing rate and reduces our blood pressure.
• The brain provides conscious awareness and allows for higher-order thinking, while the spinal cord allows for simple reflex responses.
• The brain consists of multiple regions responsible for different functions, whereas the spinal cord has one main function.
• Divisions of the nervous system.