The Nervous System of the Human Body

The Nervous System of the Human Body

The nervous system of the human body is responsible for sending, receiving and processing nerve impulses. It controls the actions and sensations of all the parts of the human body as well as your thoughts, emotions and memories. The nervous system is a "speedy electrochemical communication system of all the nerve cells of the peripheral and central nervous system". The most basic and important part in the usefulness of the Nervous System is the Neuron.

The neuron is the functional unit of the Nervous System consisting of 100 billion neurons in 1 human brain alone. While they vary in size and shape, all neurons have 3 identical parts that enable them to function. The first part of a neuron, the Cell Body, contains the nucleus, mitochondria and other organelles which are all critical elements of a neurons character. Second, Dendrites, are the area of the neuron that receive information from other cells and transmit the message to the cell body, while the last element known as the Axon conducts messages away from the cell. These 3 specific areas are an important asset to the function of each neuron.

Each containing the previously listed areas of the neuron, there are three separate types of neurons occurring in the Nervous System. One being the Sensory neurons, which carry incoming messages from sensory receptors to the Central NS. Another, Motor neurons, transmit the outgoing messages from the Central NS to the body's muscles and glands. Although our nervous system has millions of sensory and motor neurons, it consists of billions of interneurons. Interneurons are found only in the Central NS where they connect neuron to neuron to provide communication throughout each cell.

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...nterneuron. This pathway allows for the "pain reflex". Therefore, if you were to touch a flame on a candle or a gas stove, neural activity energized by the heat would move to the sensory neurons and then into the interneurons and finally into your Spinal cord. The interneurons react by stimulating motor neurons into the muscles in your arm. Because the simple pain reflex pathway runs through the Spinal cord and out, your hand jerks away from the flame before your brain receives and responds to the message.

This leads us to the role the brain plays throughout the Nervous System and the entire body. In the Nervous System, the brain receives and interprets information as well as decides responses. These reactions occur in thousands of neural networks located in the brain. To better clarify these networks and other functions the brain provides, Betty Ann will explain.