nervous system

• The central nervous system, which includes the brain and spinal cord, processes and coordinates all

  incoming sensory information and outgoing motor commands, and

  it is also the seat of complex brain functions such as memory, intelligence, learning, and emotion.
• allows voluntary control over skeletal muscle like moving muscles to walk

  or talk, are controlled by the somatic nervous system,
• involuntary motor commands, such as digestion and heart beat, are controlled

  by the autonomic nervous system.
• motor (efferent) neurons - essential for voluntary and involuntary movements.
• sensory (afferent) neurons - sensory neurons that carry information from the body to the brain. process sensations like touch, pain, temperature, and sound.
• The sympathetic nervous system,

  sometimes called the “fight or flight” system, increases alertness, stimulates tissue, and prepares the body for quick responses to unusual

  situations.
• the parasympathetic nervous system, sometimes called the “rest and repose” system, conserves energy and controls

  sedentary activities, such as digestion.
• medulla - the part of the brain that controls the heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing rate
• pons - connects the cerebellum to the medulla oblongata
• cerebellum - controls muscle coordination, balance, and posture
• parts of hindbrain

  • pons
  • cerebellum
  • medulla
• midbrain - involved in alertness, sleep/wake cycle, visual and auditory processing
• the brainstem includes medulla, pons, midbrain
• forebrain

  • thalamus
  • cerebrum
  • hypothalamus
• thalamus - relay station for sensory and motor information from the brain to the spinal cord
• hypothalamus regulates body temperature, hunger, thirst, sleep, emotional activity, and the release of hormones from the pituitary gland.
• cerebrum - responsible for intelligence and reasoning