How does the nervous system work

  • Jul 26, 2021
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How does the nervous system work

The nervous system is a set of organs and neural tissue in charge of regulating the functions of our brain and its communication with the rest of our body. The nervous system allows us to perceive the senses and understand the world, thanks to it we can hear, see, smell, feel and taste. Not only that, but it also regulates our movements and our mental processing.

You want to know How does the nervous system work? Then we recommend you continue reading this complete article on Psychology-Online.

You may also like: Peripheral nervous system: functions and parts

Index

  1. What is the nervous system: definition
  2. Nervous system: parts and classification
  3. Organs of the nervous system
  4. Nervous system diseases

What is the nervous system: definition.

When we reflect on ourselves as individuals and everything that surrounds us, we can come to the conclusion that everything we feel and think is part of our mind... Nevertheless,what is really our mind?

While it is true that, under other sources, we can analyze thought beyond a physical plane, which we have for sure is that our brain and the connections it makes with the different organs of the nervous system can be understood as "the mind".

Then...What is the nervous system?

We can define this system as a set of specialized cells (neurons) responsible for transmitting information and creating a network of chemical and electrical communication by our body.

In humans, the greatest activity of the nervous system is concentrated in the brain and spinal cord (central nervous system or CNS) although there are also neural networks distributed by trunk and extremities (autonomic nervous system or ANS).

It is important to comment that, in addition to the neuron, the nervous system would not be able to function properly were it not for the existence of glial cells or neuroglia. These cells are "the cement" that unites the neural network and without them, there would be no connection between external stimuli and our mind.

How does the nervous system work?

To understand its function, it is important to differentiate its two main ways: the one that transmits information Y the one that receives and / or processes it. Let's take an example to finish understanding how the nervous system works:

  • We see a ball on the ground and we hit her with the foot: our eyes perceive an object, this stimulus reaches the central nervous system (CNS) which processes it and detects the characteristics of the object until it identifies it as a ball. Later, by means of a mental processing, we determine that we are going to kick it, so our brain sends information in the form of neurotransmitters through the autonomic nervous system (ANS) to the leg muscles so that they perform the kick movement.

Next, we offer you an outline so you can see the parts of the nervous system and understanding is easier:

How the nervous system works - What is the nervous system: definition

Nervous system: parts and classification.

As we have previously introduced, this set of neurons and glial cells is divided into several parts which are also divided according to the function of each organ. The parts or structure of the nervous system is something that has taken many years of research to create the model that we have today and that we will show below.

How the nervous system is divided

In the first place, we can differentiate two major divisions of the nervous system:

- Central Nervous System (CNS): it is the part in which the information collected by the peripheral nervous system is processed, in addition, from neural processing they also generate responses to send them to others organs. For example, if we think about carrying out an action such as jumping, the CNS will send a signal to our muscles through the peripheral nervous system to carry out this action.

- Peripheral nervous system (SNP): consists of a network of nerves that collect information from the environment (senses) to give it to the CNS and, on the other hand, receive information from the CNS to carry out actions throughout our body.

In turn, they can be divided as follows:

- Central Nervous System:

  • Brain
  • Cerebellum
  • Brain stem
  • Spinal cord

- Peripheral nervous system

  • Cranial nerves
  • Spinal nerves (Autonomous SNP): the autonomous SNP is also divided into sympathetic, parasympathetic nervous system and enteric nervous system.
How the nervous system works - Nervous system: parts and classification

Organs of the nervous system.

Now that we know how the nervous system works and how it is organized, we are going to describe the different organs that are part of it:

  • Brain: comprised between the brain, cerebellum, and brainstem. This organ is the main one in charge of processing the information of the nervous system.
  • Spinal cord: it connects the brain with the nerves throughout the body, is attached to the brain stem and runs down our back.
  • Sensory organs: The eyes, touch receptors, tongue, nose and ears also have a strong influence on the nervous system since they are those that collect the necessary information for our processing cerebral.
  • Nerves: the nervous network that runs through our body is an organic system that is part of the ANS.

We could say that our entire body influences the nervous system, even the intestine! If you want to know more, you can consult this article about the enteric nervous system and the relationship between the gut and emotions.

How the nervous system works - Organs of the nervous system

Diseases of the nervous system.

Being a network where so many organs participate, it is normal that many diseases are related to the nervous system. Different psychopathologies (or mental illnesses) are related to the neurotransmitters generated by our CNS. For example, people with depression or Borderline personality disorder they usually generate less serotonin than the population mean.

We highlight the following diseases of the nervous system of physical origin:

  • Multiple sclerosis
  • Diseases neurodegenerative (Parkinson's, senile dementia, Alzheimer's ...)
  • Epilepsy
  • Head trauma
  • Amnesia
  • Brain infections
  • Tumors

Explanatory video of the function of the nervous system.

This article is merely informative, in Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.

If you want to read more articles similar to How does the nervous system work, we recommend that you enter our category of Neuropsychology.

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