The nervous system keeps us up and running!

The human nervous system is actually two systems that function together. They are the central nervous system and the peripheral system. The central is divided further in to two major parts. There is the brain and the spinal cord. The average brain weighs about three pounds and contains about a hundred billion nerve cells or neurons. It also has trillions of glia, which are support cells. The brain is in the head at the top of the body and the spinal cord runs down from it. The spinal cord is encased in the backbone or vertebral column.

The central nervous system is also divided into two parts. The somatic consists of peripheral nerve fibers that send sensory information to the central system and motor nerve fibers that project to skeletal muscle. The autonomic nervous system is divided into three parts: the sympathetic nervous system, the parasympathetic nervous system and the enteric nervous system. The autonomic nervous system controls smooth muscle of the viscera (internal organs) and glands. The enteric nervous system is a third division of the autonomic nervous system that you do not hear much about. The enteric nervous system is a meshwork of nerve fibers that innervate the viscera (gastrointestinal tract, pancreas, gall bladder.

These parts all-functioning together make up the nervous system. It controls the movement of our bodies, both voluntary and involuntary. Any damage to this system can cause damage that may well be permanent. Generally speaking, once damaged it has a very difficult time recovering and some damage is not repairable.

Author Notes:

Laurie Simpson contributes and publishes news editorial to http://www.1st-in-wellness.com.  Obtaining and keeping good health through healthy living, natural healing, great mental health and healthy finances.