It consists of two components, the Somatic nervous system, which controls the movements of our skeletal muscles and the Automatic nervous system, which controls the glands and muscles of our internal organs. The automatic nervous system is a dual system that has influence over the heartbeat, digestion, and glandular activity. These two systems which make up the automatic NS are known as Sympathetic and Parasympathetic NS. The Sympathetic NS stimulates the body for defensive performance. If someone should become frightened or infuriated about something, the sympathetic NS will accelerate the bodies heartbeat, raise blood sugar and dilate your arteries to prepare you for action. When someone feels stressed, their Parasympathetic NS produces opposite effects such as decreasing the heartbeat and lowering blood sugar in an attempt to relax the body. On a daily basis, these two systems work together so that the body can remain in a stable interior condition. The Peripheral Nervous System lays the groundwork for the most important area of the Nervous System, the Central NS. Consisting of the brain and Spinal cord, the Central NS is often compared to a powerful computer since its purpose is so complex. The Central NS enables humans to think, feel and act, AND without this area, other parts of the human body would be nonexistent. The gray area of the Spinal cord consists mostly cell bodies and dendrtites, while the surrounding white matter contains bundles of interneural axons. These Axons allow the Spinal cord to function in the Nervous Sysytem by transmitting ascending impulses to the brain and descending impulses from the brain to the rest of the body. The Spinal cord is also involved in reflexes that do not immediately involve the brain. For example, a spinal reflex pathway is composed of one sensory neuron and one motor neuron, which exchange information through an interneuron. This pathway allows for the “pain reflex”. T...
