The Human Nervous System
The human nervous system is another one of those topics that is perceived to be extremely complicated and something that cannot be understood by you average individual. In some ways the nervous system is complicated, but breaking it down is not impossible. Contrary to what people thinks it can be relatively easy to understand.
The nervous system is broken down into two categories: the peripheral nervous system and the central nervous system. The central nervous system is the body's decision maker.
The peripheral nervous system is in charge of gathering information and sending decisions made by the central nervous system to other parts of the body. The peripheral nervous system can be broken down into two sub categories: the somatic nervous system and the autonomic nervous system.
The somatic nervous system is in charge of voluntary actions. The autonomic nervous system is responsible for control the muscles and glands of our internal organs.
With in the entire nervous system there is three types of neurons that messages travel through. Those three types of neurons are: sensory neurons, motor neurons, and interneurons. Sensory neurons are responsible for carrying messages from the body's tissue and sensory receptors inward to the brain and spinal cord. Motor neurons are responsible for carrying instructions from the central nervous system to the body's muscles. Lastly interneurons collect the information from the motor neurons and the sensory neurons and transmit messages within the brain. This is by far the most complicated of all the neurons and least understood. This is because our nervous system has millions and millions of motor and sensory neurons, but there are billions of interneurons. This is where most of the confusion lies.
Below I have posted a link to a website giving a summery of the nervous system. Their description is much more in depth than my synopsis. It would be very useful if you want to learn more about the nervous system. The second link gives you a good visual of the nervous system. When trying to understand something as complex as the nervous system a visual will often be useful.
Link:
http://www.innerbody.com/image/nervov.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUGuWh2UeMk
The nervous system is broken down into two categories: the peripheral nervous system and the central nervous system. The central nervous system is the body's decision maker.
The peripheral nervous system is in charge of gathering information and sending decisions made by the central nervous system to other parts of the body. The peripheral nervous system can be broken down into two sub categories: the somatic nervous system and the autonomic nervous system.
The somatic nervous system is in charge of voluntary actions. The autonomic nervous system is responsible for control the muscles and glands of our internal organs.
With in the entire nervous system there is three types of neurons that messages travel through. Those three types of neurons are: sensory neurons, motor neurons, and interneurons. Sensory neurons are responsible for carrying messages from the body's tissue and sensory receptors inward to the brain and spinal cord. Motor neurons are responsible for carrying instructions from the central nervous system to the body's muscles. Lastly interneurons collect the information from the motor neurons and the sensory neurons and transmit messages within the brain. This is by far the most complicated of all the neurons and least understood. This is because our nervous system has millions and millions of motor and sensory neurons, but there are billions of interneurons. This is where most of the confusion lies.
Below I have posted a link to a website giving a summery of the nervous system. Their description is much more in depth than my synopsis. It would be very useful if you want to learn more about the nervous system. The second link gives you a good visual of the nervous system. When trying to understand something as complex as the nervous system a visual will often be useful.
Link:
http://www.innerbody.com/image/nervov.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUGuWh2UeMk