The nervous system is the network of nerve cells and fibres which transmits nerve

impulses between parts of the body. The nervous system is a highly complex system of an
animal that coordinates its actions and sensory information by transmitting signals to and
from different parts of the body. It controls and coordinates all essential functions of the body
including all other body systems allowing the body to maintain homeostasis or its delicate
balance.

The Nervous System is divided into Two Main Divisions:

Central Nervous System (CNS)

The Peripheral Nervous System (PNS)

The central nervous system:

The central nervous system consists of the brain and spinal cord. It is referred to as
"central" because it combines information from the entire body and coordinates activity
across the whole organism.

Brain:

The human brain is the central organ of the human nervous system, and with the
spinal cord makes up the central nervous system. The brain consists of the cerebrum, the
brainstem and the cerebellum. It controls most of the activities of the body, processing.
integrating, and coordinating the information it receives from the sense organs, and making
decisions as to the instructions sent to the rest of the body. The brain is contained in, and
protected by, the skull bones of the head. The brain is the most complex organ in the human
body. In total, around 100 billion neurons and 1,000 billion glial (support) cells make up the
human brain. Our brain uses around 20 percent of our body's total energy. The brain is the
central control module of the body and coordinates activity. From physical motion to the
secretion of hormones, the creation of memories, and the sensation of emotion.

The brain is composed of the cerebrum, cerebellum, and brainstem.

Cerebrum:

It is the largest part of the brain and is composed of right and left hemispheres. It
performs higher functions like interpreting touch, vision and hearing, as well as speech,
reasoning, emotions, learning, and fine control of movement.
Cerebellum:

It is located under the cerebrum. Its function is to coordinate muscle movements,

maintain posture, and balance.

Brainstem:

It acts as a relay center connecting the cerebrum and cerebellum to the spinal cord. It
performs many automatic functions such as breathing, heart rate, body temperature, wake and
sleep cycles, digestion, sneezing, coughing, vomiting, and swallowing.

Right brain- left brain

The cerebrum is divided into two halves: the right and left hemispheres. They are
joined by a bundle of fibers called the corpus callosum that transmits messages from one side
to the other. Each hemisphere controls the opposite side of the body. If a stroke occurs on the
right side of the brain, your left arm or leg may be weak or paralyzed. Not all functions of the
hemispheres are shared. In general, the left hemisphere controls speech, comprehension,
arithmetic, and writing. The right hemisphere controls creativity, spatial ability, artistic, and
musical skills. The left hemisphere is dominant in hand use and language in about 92% of
people.

Lobes of the brain (Function of Brain)

The cerebral hemispheres have distinct fissures, which divide the brain into lobes.
Each hemisphere has 4 lobes: frontal, temporal, parietal, and occipital (Fig. 3). Each lobe
may be divided, once again, into areas that serve very specific functions. It's important to
understand that each lobe of the brain does not function alone. There are very complex
relationships between the lobes of the brain and between the right and left hemispheres.

Frontal lobe:

Personality, behavior, emotions

Judgment, planning, problem solving

Speech: speaking and writing (Broca's area)

Body movement (motor strip)

Intelligence, concentration, self-awareness

Parietal lobe:

Interprets language, words

Sense of touch, pain, temperature (sensory strip)

Interprets signals from vision, hearing, motor, sensory and memory

Spatial and visual perception

Occipital lobe:

Interprets vision (color, light, movement)

Temporal lobe

Understanding language (Wernicke's area)

Memory

Hearing

Sequencing and organization

motor strip

Spinal cord

Spinal cord the cylindrical bundle of nerve fibres and associated tissue which is
enclosed in the spine or vertebrae (back bones) and connects nearly all parts of the body to
the brain, with which it forms the central nervous system.

The spinal cord is a long, thin, tubular structure made up of nervous tissue, which
extends from the medulla oblongata in the brainstem to the lumbar region of the vertebral
column. It encloses the central canal of the spinal cord, which contains cerebrospinal fluid.

Functions:

Spinous Process

Body

Facet Joint
Transverse Process

The spinal cord works a bit like a telephone switchboard operator, helping the brain
communicate with different parts of the body, and vice versa. Its three major roles are:

i. To relay messages from the brain to different parts of the body (usually a muscle) in order
to perform an action

ii. To pass along messages from sensory receptors (found all over the body) to the brain

iii. To coordinate reflexes (quick responses to outside stimuli) that don't go through the brain
and are managed by the spinal cord alone

The spinal cord is organized into five major regions consisting of a total of 33
segments (two of these segments are fused, so it is usually described as having 31 segments).
Each segment contains nerves connected to different parts of the body.

i. The cervical region is connected to the head, neck, upper body, arms, and hands.

ii. The thoracic region is connected to the hands, fingers, chest, and abdominal muscles.

iii. The lumbar region is connected to the hips, knee, ankles, and toe muscles.

iv. The sacral region is connected to the legs, toes, bladder, and anal muscles.

The coccygeal region is connected to the skin around the coccyx.

Function of Nerves:

The main function of nerves to conduct an electrochemical impulse and convey

information. These impulses are carried by the individual neurons that make up the nerve.
These impulses travel from one neuron to another by crossing a synapse. The messages are
converted from electrical to chemical and then back to electrical. The sensory nerves carry
information from the receptor to the central nervous system where the information gets
processed.

The motor nerves, on the other hand, carry information from the central nervous
system to the muscles.

Neuromuscular junction:

Neuromuscular junction (or Myoneural junction) is a chemical synapse formed by the

contact between a motor neuron and a muscle fiber. It is at the neuromuscular junction that a
motor neuron is able to transmit a signal to the muscle fibre, causing muscle contraction and
thus is necessary for movement. At this point, each axon of the motor neuron will

divide into branches called axon terminals. Towards the end of the axon terminal, closest to
the muscle fibre, the tip of the axon terminal enlarges and becomes known as the synaptic end
bulb. Here in this junction motor neuron is called Pre synaptic cell and Muscle fibre is called
post synaptic cell. The muscular component is a region of the muscle fibre referred to as the
motor end plate. Between the synaptic end bulbs of the neuron and the cell membrane of the
muscle fibre (the sarcolemma) lies a space known as the synaptic cleft, which is the final
component of the neuromuscular junction.

Neuromuscular transmission:

Neuromuscular transmission is the mechanism whereby motor nerve impulses initiate

muscle contraction. Neuromuscular transmission involves the transmission of action potential
from the motor neurons axon to the muscle fibre.

Steps in neuromuscular transmission:

1) Nerve action potential.

2) Calcium entry into the presynaptic terminus.

3) Release of Ach quanta.

4) Diffusion of Ach across cleft.

5) Combination of Ach with post-synaptic receptors and Ach breakdown via esterase.

6) Opening of Na+/K+ channels (cation channels).

7) Postsynaptic membrane depolarization (EPP).

8) Muscle action potential.