Understanding Central Nervous System and Peripheral Nervous System

The nervous system has three main functions: sensory input, integration of data, and motor
output. Sensory input is when the body gathers information or data, by way of neurons, glia
and synapses. The nervous system is composed of excitable nerve cells (neurons) and
synapses that form between the neurons and connect them to centers throughout the body or
to other neurons. These neurons operate on excitation or inhibition, and although nerve cells
can vary in size and location, their communication with one another determines their
function. These nerves conduct impulses from sensory receptors to the brain and spinal cord.
The data is then processed by way of integration of data, which occurs only in the brain.
After the brain has processed the information, impulses are then conducted from the brain
and spinal cord to muscles and glands, which is called motor output. Glia cells are found
within tissues and are not excitable but help with myelination, ionic regulation and
extracellular fluid.

The nervous system is comprised of two major parts, or subdivisions, the central nervous
system (CNS) and the peripheral nervous system (PNS). The CNS includes the brain and
spinal cord. The brain is the body’s “control center.” The CNS has various centers located
within it that carry out the sensory, motor and integration of data. These centers can be
subdivided into Lower Centers (including the spinal cord and brain stem) and Higher centers
communicating with the brain via effectors.

The PNS is a vast network of spinal and cranial nerves that are linked to the brain and the
spinal cord. It contains sensory receptors which help in processing changes in the internal and
external environment. This information is sent to the CNS via afferent sensory nerves. The
PNS is then subdivided into the autonomic nervous system and the somatic nervous system.
The autonomic has involuntary control of internal organs, blood vessels, smooth and cardiac
muscles. The somatic has voluntary control of skin, bones, joints, and skeletal muscle. The
two systems function together, by way of nerves from the PNS entering and becoming part of
the CNS, and vice versa.

Brain Plasticity
Neuroplasticity, also known as brain plasticity, is a term that refers to the brain's ability to
change and adapt as a result of experience. Although, when people say that the brain
possesses plasticity, they are not suggesting that the brain is similar to plastic.

Plasticity refers to the brain's malleability, which is defined as being "easily influenced,
trained, or controlled." Neuro refers to neurons, the nerve cells that are the building blocks of
the brain and nervous system. Thus, neuroplasticity is when nerve cells change or adjust.

There are two main types of neuroplasticity:

● Functional plasticity: the brain's ability to move functions from a damaged area of
the brain to other undamaged areas
● Structural plasticity: the brain's ability to actually change its physical structure as a
result of learning

Characteristics of Neuroplasticity

● Age and Environment Play a Role

While plasticity occurs throughout the lifetime, certain types of changes are more
predominant at specific ages. The brain tends to change a great deal during the early years of
life. Genetics can have an influence as well. The interaction between the environment and
genetics also plays a role in shaping the brain's plasticity.

● Neuroplasticity Is an Ongoing Process

Plasticity is ongoing throughout life and involves brain cells other than neurons, including
glial and vascular cells. It can occur as a result of learning, experience, and memory
formation, or as a result of damage to the brain.

● Brain Plasticity Also Has Limitations

Damage to key areas of the brain can result in deficits in those areas because, while some
recovery may be possible, other areas of the brain simply cannot fully take over those
functions that were affected by the damage.

Benefits of Neuroplasticity
There are many benefits of brain neuroplasticity. Allowing your brain to adapt and change
helps promote:

● The ability to learn new things

● The ability to enhance existing cognitive capabilities
● Recovery from strokes and traumatic brain injuries
● Strengthening areas where the function is lost or has declined
● Improvements that can boost brain fitness

Understanding Structure of The Neuron, Communication With Neuron,

Communication Between Neuron

Neurons are the cells that make up the brain and the nervous system. They are the
fundamental units that send and receive signals which allow us to move our muscles, feel the
external world, think, form memories and much more.

Types of neuron

● Sensory neurons

Sensory neurons are the nerve cells that are activated by sensory input from the environment
- for example, when you touch a hot surface with your fingertips, the sensory neurons will be
the ones firing and sending off signals to the rest of the nervous system about the information
they have received.

● Motor neurons

Motor neurons of the spinal cord are part of the central nervous system (CNS) and connect to
muscles, glands and organs throughout the body. These neurons transmit impulses from the
spinal cord to skeletal and smooth muscles (such as those in your stomach), and so directly
control all of our muscle movements. There are two types of motor neurons: those that travel
from the spinal cord to the muscle are called the lower motor neurons, whereas those that
travel between the brain and spinal cord are called the upper motor neurons.

● Interneurons

Interneurons are the ones in between - they connect the spinal motor and sensory neurons. As
well as transferring signals between sensory and motor neurons, interneurons can also
communicate with each other, forming circuits of various complexity. They are multipolar,
just like motor neurons.

The basic functions of a neuron

● Receive signals (or information).

 ● Integrate incoming signals (to determine whether or not the information should be
passed along).
● Communicate signals to target cells (other neurons or muscles or glands).

Understanding Structure of the Neuron

Neurons, like other cells, have a cell body (called the soma). The nucleus of the neuron is
found in the soma. Neurons need to produce a lot of proteins, and most neuronal proteins are
synthesized in the soma as well.

The neuron contains the soma (cell body from which extends the axon - a fiber conducting
electrical impulses away from the Soma) and Dendrites (tree-like structures that receive
signals from other neurons).

The myelin sheath is an insulating layer that forms around the axon and allows nerve
impulses to transmit more rapidly along the axon.

Heusions, do not tocest each other, and there is Be the a gap called the Synapse azon of one
nelchon to the dendrive of the next.

This mique to receive and Stecture of newsion pesouts it carry messages to other neurons and
throughout the body.

Neurons are the central building blocks of the nervous system. A neuron’s outer surface is
made up of a semipermeable membrane. This membrane allows smaller molecules and
molecules without an electrical charge to pass through it while stopping larger or highly
charged molecules.
The nucleus of the neuron is located in the soma or cell body. The soma has branching
extensions known as dendrites. The neuron is a small information processor, and dendrites
serve as input sites where signals are received from other neurons. These signals are
transmitted electrically across the soma and down a major extension from the soma known as
the axon, which ends at multiple terminal buttons. The terminal buttons contain synaptic
vesicles that house neurotransmitters, the chemical messengers of the nervous system.

In healthy individuals, the neuronal signal moves rapidly down the axon to the terminal
buttons, where synaptic vesicles release neurotransmitters into the synapse. The synapse is a
very small space between two neurons and is an important site where communication
between neurons occurs. Once neurotransmitters are released into the synapse, they travel
across the small space and bind with corresponding receptors on the dendrite of an adjacent
neuron.

Neurons send signals using action potentials. An action potential is a shift in the neuron’s
potential electric energy caused by the flow of charged particles in and out of the membrane
of the neuron. When an action potential is generated, it’s carried along the axon to a
presynaptic ending.

Action potentials can trigger both chemical and electrical synapses. Synapses are locations
where neurons can pass these electrical and chemical messages between them. Synapses are
made up of a presynaptic ending, a synaptic cleft, and a postsynaptic ending.

Chemical synapses

In a chemical synapse, the neuron releases of chemical messengers called neurotransmitters.

These molecules cross the synaptic cleft and bind to receptors in the postsynaptic ending of a
dendrite.

Neurotransmitters can trigger a response in the postsynaptic neuron, causing it to generate an

action potential of its own. Alternatively, they can prevent activity in the postsynaptic neuron.
In that case, the postsynaptic neuron doesn’t generate an action potential.
Electrical synapses

Electrical synapses can only excite. These synapses form when two neurons are connected by
a gap junction. This gap is much smaller than a chemical synapse and is made up of ion
channels that help transmit a positive electrical signal.

Because of the way these signals travel, signals move much faster across electrical synapses
than chemical synapses. However, these signals can diminish from one neuron to the next.
This makes them less effective at transmitting repeated signals.