anatomy of the ns

• The Central nervous system (CNS) consists of the brain and the spinal cord.
• The Peripheral nervous system (PNS) connects the brain and spinal cord to the rest of the body.
• The Somatic nervous system consists of axons conveying messages from the sense organs to the CNS and from the CNS to the muscles.
• The Autonomic nervous system controls the heart, intestines, and other organs.
• The term dorsal refers to the top of the brain, away from the ventral (stomach) side.
• The term ventral refers to the bottom of the brain, toward the stomach, away from the dorsal (back) side.
• The term anterior refers to the front end of the brain.
• The term posterior refers to the rear end of the brain.
• The term superior refers to above another part of the brain.
• The term inferior refers to below another part of the brain.
• The term lateral refers to toward the side, away from the midline of the brain.
• The term medial refers to toward the midline, away from the side of the brain.
• The term proximal refers to located close (approximate) to the point of origin or attachment.
• The term distal refers to located more distant from the point of origin or attachment.
• The autonomic division of the body controls various processes through antagonistic control, where one autonomic branch is excitatory, the other is inhibitory.
• The Enteric Nervous System controls the gut, is a network of neurons embedded in the lining of the gastrointestinal tract, controls bowel motility, secretion, and blood flow to permit fluid and nutrient absorption and to support waste elimination, and is formed by a network of neurons embedded in the lining of the gastrointestinal tract.
• Heart rate can be regulated by altering the proportion of sympathetic or parasympathetic control.
• The Parasympathetic Nervous System is dominant during our relaxed states.
• Normal activities reflect a balance between the two divisions of the autonomic system.
• The fight or flight response is composed of ganglia on the left and right of the spinal cord.
• The sympathetic system increases heart rate, while the parasympathetic system decreases it.
• The Enteric Nervous System interacts with gut bacteria, known collectively as the microbiome
• The Parasympathetic Nervous System facilitates vegetative and nonemergency responses, decreases functions increased by the sympathetic nervous system, and is composed of long preganglion axons extending from the spinal cord and short postganglionic fibers that attach to the organs themselves.
• The term ipsilateral refers to on the same side of the body, such as two parts on the left or two on the right.
• The term contralateral refers to on the opposite side of the body, one on the left and one on the right.
• The Allocortex, also known as The Limbic System, consists of structures that form a border around the brainstem, generally associated with motivation and emotions.
• Basal Ganglia control voluntary movement and play a role in cognitive functioning.
• Sensory fibers cross to the opposite side as they ascend in the spinal cord or medulla; they pass through the thalamus that relay to the cortex.
• The Neocortex is responsible for unique human traits such as reasoning, mathematical ability, language skills, imagination, personality traits, artistic talent, sensory perception, motor function, and more.
• The Association Areas create transform sensory stimuli into Perception (awareness), the brain’s interpretation of sensory stimuli.
• The Cerebral Cortex's main input and output are located in the Sensory Areas, which receive sensory inputs and translate into perception/awareness.
• The posterior multimodal association cortex is highly connected to the anterior association areas which in turn are responsible for conceptual cognitive functions and planning motor actions.
• The Sensory Areas include the Primary somatic sensory cortex in the parietal lobe, terminations from skin, musculoskeletal system and viscera; information about touch, pain, temperature, itch, body position.
• After planning motor actions in the anterior association area, the actual processing of the motor response output is the reverse of processing in the sensory (input) system.
• The Motor Areas direct skeletal muscles movement.
• Sensory information is processed and sent from receptors along parallel pathways through primary sensory cortex and unimodal association cortex to the posterior multimodal association cortex of each hemisphere, the posterior parietal and temporal cortices.
• The Allocortex includes the Hippocampus for memory consolidation, the Amygdala for its role in fear and anxiety, the Cingulate Cortex for emotion formation, memory, learning, and linking behavioral outcomes to motivation, and the Olfactory Bulbs for detecting odors and providing input to structures responsible for the perception of smell.
• The Association Areas integrate information from sensory and motor areas directing the voluntary behaviors.
• The term coronal plane refers to a plane that shows brain structures as seen from the front.
• The term sagittal plane refers to a plane that shows brain structures as seen from the side.