NERVOUS SYSTEM

• What is the human nervous system?

  A complex system of nerve cells that carry impulses to and from the brain and spinal cord to different parts of the body and helps all the other parts of the body communicate with each other.
• The human nervous system is divided into the central nervous system (CNS) and the peripheral nervous system (PNS), with each of these further divided into different components.
• What is the central nervous system (CNS)?

  Compromised of the brain and spinal cord and has two main functions:

  • Control of behaviour
  • Regulation of the body's physiological processes
• What is the brain?

  The centre of all conscious awareness.

  The brains outer layer, the cerebral cortex, is highly developed in humans, and is what distinguishes our higher mental function from those of animals.

  The brain is divided into two hemispheres.
• What is the spinal cord?


  An extension of the brain.

  Responsible for relaying information between the brain and body - has circuits of nerve cells to enable us to perform reflex actions.
• What is the peripheral nervous system?


  Functions are to relay nerve impulses from the CNS to the rest of the body and back.
• What is the somatic nervous system?


  Controls voluntary actions

  Receives information from the senses and carries motor and sensory information to the CNS.
• What is the autonomic nervous system?


  Controls involuntary actions e.g. breathing heart rate and digestion and is self regulating.

  Only carries motor information.
• What is the sympathetic nervous system?


  Involved in response to fight or flight; releases stored energy and inhibits less important processes.
• What is the parasympathetic nervous system? 


  Involved in returning the body to a rest state.

  Bodily processes stopped by the sympathetic branch return to normal.