Central Nervous System (CNS)

• Brain receives the information from all over the body (primarily in terms of
stimulation via sensation), interprets it, and decides how to respond.
• The brain’s function is similar to that of a computer; there is a central processing unit
(CPU), the output comes in, and the CPU analyses it and responds to it.

The Brain CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM

• The center of the nervous system.
• The vital organ that is responsible
Brain Spinal Cord
for the functions of seeing,
hearing, smelling, tasting,
thinking, feeling, remembering,
speaking, dreaming, information FORE BRAIN MID BRAIN HIND BRAIN

processing, and a lot more.

• The regulator of basic survival functions such as breathing, resting and feeding.
• It is responsible for abstract level functions such as decision making, foresight, and
problem solving.
• The spinal cord is an information highway connecting the PNS to the brain.
• Information travels to and from the brain by way of spinal cord.
Structure of Brain
• The deeply grooved structure lies safely and securely in our skull.
• The average adult human brain weighs 1.3 to 1.4 kg (approx. 3 pounds).
• If you look at it from the outside the brain is pinkish gray in color; soft, spongy, and
mottled.
• The brain contains billions of nerve cells (neurons) and trillions of "support cells".
Parts of the Brain
The brain is made of three main parts:
a. Fore brain
b. Mid brain
c. Hind brain
Fore Brain
i. Cerebrum
ii. Thalamus
iii. Hypothalamus
 iv. Limbic system
Mid Brain
i. Tectum
ii. Tegmentum
iii. Reticular formation
iv. Substantia nigra
Hind Brain
i. Cerebellum
ii. Pons
iii. Medulla oblongata
Brain Stem and Cerebellum
Located underneath the limbic system the brain stem, containing four structures, is found in all
vertebrates. It contains four structures:
1. Medulla
2. Pons
3. Reticular formation
4. Thalamus
o Responsible for basic survival functions such as breathing, heartbeat, and blood pressure.
1. Medulla/ Medulla Oblongata
• Located at the top of the spinal cord and continuous with it.
• Damage to Medulla can be fatal as it is the center responsible for vital functions
i.e., respiration, heart beat, and blood pressure.
• Contains ascending & descending tracts that communicate between the spinal
cord & various parts of the brain.
• At medulla, nerves ascending from the body and descending from the brain cross
over; hence the left side of the body is connected to the right side of the brain and
vice versa.
• Contains 3 vital centers:
Cardio inhibitory center: regulates heart rate.
Respiratory center: regulates the basic rhythm of breathing.
Vasomotor center: regulates the diameter of blood vessels.
2. Pons
Pons = Latin word for bridge
• Bridge connecting spinal cord with brain and parts of brain with each other.
 • The pons seems to serve as a relay station carrying signals from various parts of the
cerebral cortex to the cerebellum.
• Nerve impulses coming from the eyes, ears and touch receptors are sent on the
cerebellum.
• The pons also participates in the reflexes that regulate breathing.
• It has parts that are important for the level of consciousness and for sleep.

3. Reticular Formation
• The reticular formation is a region running through the middle of the hindbrain and
into the midbrain.
• A dense network of nerve cells.
• It keeps the brain alert even during sleep.
• It makes the cerebral cortex attend to new stimulation by arousing it.
• Long fibrous tracts of reticular formation run into the thalamus.
• Needed for arousal from sleep & to maintain consciousness.
• Serious damage to reticular formation may result into a coma.
4. Thalamus
The pair of egg-shaped structures located at the top of the brainstem.
• Incoming sensory information is channeled to the appropriate area of the cerebral
cortex by thalamus, so that it is processed there.
• Thalamus acts like a relay station…. the brain’s sensory switchboard; it directs
messages to the sensory receiving areas in the cortex and transmits replies to the
cerebellum and medulla.
• It receives information from the sensory neurons and routes it to the higher brain
regions that deal with vision, audition, taste and touch.
Cerebellum
• "Cerebellum" comes from the Latin word for "little brain”. The cerebellum is located
behind the brain stem.
• Cerebellum is somehow similar to the cerebral cortex: the cerebellum is divided into
hemispheres and has a cortex that surrounds these hemispheres.
• It carries 10% of the weight of the brain.
• It contains as many neurons as in the rest of the brain.
• Its function is to coordinate body movements i.e. coordination, maintenance of
posture & balance.
 • Damage to cerebellum results into jerky and uncoordinated body movements.
Limbic System
• Evolutionarily the structure of limbic system is rather old.
• The limbic system, often referred to as the "emotional brain", is found buried within
the cerebrum.
• At the border of the brainstem and cerebral hemispheres it is a doughnut-shaped
system of neural structures; associated with emotions e.g. fear and aggression, and
drives like hunger and sex; regulates body temperature, blood sugar level and blood
pressure.
Structures within the Limbic System
i. Hippocampus
ii. Amygdala
iii. Hypothalamus
Amygdala
• Two almond-shaped neural clusters in the limbic system that are linked with emotions.
• They are related with aggression and fear.
Hippocampus
• The hippocampus is the part of the limbic system that is important for memory and
learning.
Hypothalamus
• One of the smallest structures in the brain.
• The neural structure lying below (hypo) the thalamus; Composed of several nuclei.
Small bundles of neurons that regulate physiological processes involved in motivated
behavior e.g.
hunger, thirst, regulation of body temperature.
• Hypothalamus acts as the body’s Thermostat.
• Helps govern the endocrine system via the pituitary gland.
• Is linked to emotions.
Homeostasis
Hypothalamus maintains the body’s internal equilibrium e.g. looking for food when energy levels
are low, causing constriction of the blood vessels when body temperature falls.
Cerebrum
• Largest part of the human brain, associated with higher brain functions such as
thought and action..
 • Occupies 2/3 of the brain’s total mass
• Consists of two symmetrical halves or hemispheres; The right cerebral hemisphere
controls the left side of the body and vice versa.
• The hemispheres are connected by Corpus Callosum, a thick mass of nerve fibers.
• Cerebrum regulates the brain’s higher cognitive and emotional functions.

Cerebral Cortex o Coming from the Latin word for "bark”, cortex means covering, or sheath; the
cortex is a sheet of tissue making up the outer layer of the brain.
o About 1/10 of an inch in thickness, the cortex is composed of some 30 billion nerve cells
and 300 trillion synaptic connections.
o It is the body’s ultimate control and information-processing center.
Sulci and Gyrus o The cerebral cortex is greatly convoluted in humans. These
convolutions include:
1. Sulci (singular Sulcus) i.e. small grooves.
2. Gyri (singular Gyrus) i.e. large grooves also called “Fissures”.
Grey matter
• Cerebral cortex mostly consists of glia (glial cells), cell bodies, dendrites and
interconnecting neurons; they give the cerebral cortex a grayish brown appearance,
commonly known as ‘Grey Matter”.
White Matter
• Beneath the cerebral cortex lie millions of axons that connect the neurons of the
cerebral cortex to those located elsewhere in the brain.
• The large myelin gives tissue an opaque white appearance known as “White
Matter”.
Cerebral Lobes
a. Frontal lobe
b. Parietal lobe
c. Temporal lobe
d. Occipital lobe
• Each lobe controls a different range of activities.
• Each hemisphere is vertically divided by the central sulcus, a groove.
• The lateral fissure, another groove divides each hemisphere horizontally.

a. Frontal lobe
 Associated with motor control and cognitive activities; reasoning, planning, decision making,
problem solving, movement and speech (Broca’s Area). b. Parietal lobe
Associated with controlling incoming sensory information; thus affecting movement,
orientation, recognition, perception of stimuli. c. Temporal lobe
Associated with perception and recognition of auditory stimuli, memory
& speech. Wernicke’s area: concerned with the understanding of
language is located here d. Occipital lobe
Associated with visual processing.
Cranium o The brain is enclosed in the cavity of skull or cranium consisting of eight hard bones;
One frontal bone, two parietal bones, two temporal bones, one occipital bone, one sphenoid
bone, and one ethmoid bone.

Spinal Cord
• Continuation of the Medulla Oblongata.
• The spinal cord is about 45 cm long in men and 43 cm long in women and weighs
about 35-40 grams.
• The vertebral column (back bone), encapsulating the spinal cord, is about 70 cm long
comprising vertebra in the vertebral column.
• The spinal cord is much shorter than the vertebral column.
• Signals arising in the motor areas of the brain travel back down the cord and leave in
the motor neurons.
• The spinal cord also acts as a minor coordinating center responsible for some simple
reflexes like the withdrawal reflex.

Reflex - rapid (and unconscious) response to changes in the internal or external environment,
needed to maintain homeostasis
Reflex arc: the neural pathway over which impulses travel during a reflex. The components of a
reflex arc include:
1. Receptor - responds to the stimulus
2. Afferent pathway -- sensory neuron
3. Central Nervous System