Divisions of nervous systems

• Central nervous system (CNS)

  Made up of the brain and spinal cord

  The spinal cord passes messages to and from the brain and connects nerves to the PNS

  This processes, interprets and stores information and issues orders to muscles, glands and organs
• The Peripheral nervous system (PNS)


  Transmits message via millions of neuron's to and from the central nervous system.

  It is further divided into the autonomic nervous system (ANS) and the somatic nervous system (SNS)
• Autonomic nervous system (ANS)


  Governs vita functions in the body such as breathing, heart rate, digestion and stress response.

  the organs controlled by the autonomic nervous system include the heart, lungs, eyes, stomach.

  It can be divided into the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system.
• Somatic nervous system (SNS)

  Consists of nerves carrying sensory signals from al over the body.

  It contains the nerves that carry the messages from the brain to other areas of the body.

  Controls muscle movement and receive information from sensory receptors
• Differences between ANS and SNS

  • SNS has sensory and motor pathways, ANS only has motor
  • SNS controls skeletal muscles and movement, ANS controls internal organs and glands
  • SNS caries commands from the motor cortex, ANS controls centres are in the brain stem
• Nervous system - specialised network of cells in the human body and is our primary internal communication system. It has two main functions:

  • To collect, process and respond to environmental information
  • To co-ordinate the working of different organs and cells in the body
• Subsections of the nervous system