Human Body 2.0: The Nervous System

The Nervous System

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Basics

Function:

The nervous system is all about sensing and movement. It allows you to think and move and controls and instructs your organs. For example, lets say you want to walk, your nervous system will transmit signals that will tell your muscles to contract.

Organs:

There are 3 major organs in the nervous system. Your brain, spinal cord, and nerves,

BRAIN: Your brain is a soft, wrinkled, three pound organ that is protected by the skull. It is the main control center of the body and holds approximately 100 billion neurons. Some of the functions that the brain does includes your consciousness, memory, voluntary actions as well as the maintenance of heart rate, respiration, digestion and blood pressure.

SPINAL CORD:  The spinal cord is the highway for information from your brain to your body. It is located from your brain to your pelvis going down your back. Your nerves are connected to your spinal cord, when your brain sends messages down your spinal cord, it stops at the right nerve and travels around to the place that is being given the command. Information can also be sent back to the brain from the spinal cord.

NERVES:  Nerves carry electrochemical signals from the brain to and from other areas of he nervous system as well as to other organs. There are four types of nerves, " Cranial nerves connect your sense organs (eyes, ears, nose, mouth) to your brain, central nerves connect areas within the brain and spinal cord, peripheral nerves connect the spinal cord with your limbs and autonomic nerves connect the brain and spinal cord with your organs (heart, stomach, intestines, blood vessels, etc.) ".

Interactions With Other Systems

The nervous system interacts with all body systems.

All Of the Systems

The nervous system sends commands to as well as receives information from almost all organs in the body whether it happen consciously or unconsciously. For example, when you want to walk your brain sends commands to your muscles telling them to contract and relax. Another example is when you get a paper cut. When you get one information gets sent up to your brain allowing you to feel the stinging on the cut. Your skeletal system works with your nervous system by protecting the organs of the system. For example, your skull protects your brain.

Analogy: The Brain is like a Post Office

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The brain is like a post office because...

• it is the center of the whole mail system just like how the brain is like the control center of the body.
• it is constantly sending out mail as well as receiving some just like how the brain sends out commands and receives information.
• it is also where mail and stuff is stored. Information is also stored in the brain.

If the brain was a post office, the commands and information be sent to and from the body would be mail since mail is always being sent to and from the post office like information in the body. The spinal cord would be whatever means of transportation the mail takes ti get to its designated area (a delivery truck, plane, bike, etc.).                      

Structure and Function: Brain

The functions of your brain is store and receive information, send commands, and allow your body to function, fell, and move. How does the structure of the brain help it perform these functions?

       The older you get, the wrinklier your brain gets. Why is your brain wrinkly? and how does its wrinkliness allow it to function better? Well, a wrinkly brain allows it to have more surface area within a smaller space. When you look at a brain, you are actually only seeing 1/3 of its surface area. A larger surface area allows the brain to have more neurons located closer together allowing it to function faster and more efficiently.

The structure of the brain allows it to perform its function in faster and more efficient ways.

Sources:

http://www.biology4kids.com/files/systems_nervous.html
http://www.innerbody.com/image/nervov.html
https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110630013102AAqsjtB
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/why-are-our-brains-wrinkly-29271143/?no-ist