THE

BIOLOGICAL
PERSPECTIVE-2
 (B)
An Overview of the Nervous System
 The Central Nervous System (CNS)
 It consists of the brain and spinal cord. Both the brain and the spinal cord are composed of neurons that control
the life sustaining functions as well as all thoughts, emotions and behavior.
 The Brain: The brain enables our humanity – our thinking, feeling and acting. It consists of approximately 40
billion neurons, each connecting with roughly 10,000 other neurons. The brain’s neurons cluster into work
groups called neural networks. Neurons network with nearby neurons with which they can have short, fast
connections. Neurons that fire together wire together. Example: Learning to play violin, speaking a foreign
language, solving a math problem takes place as feedback strengthens connections.
 The Spinal Cord: It is a two-way information highway connecting the peripheral nervous system and the brain.
The inner part of spinal cord appears to be grey while outer part appears to be white. The inner part of spinal cord
is mainly composed of cell bodies of neuron and outer part of spinal cord consists of axons and nerves. The outer
section of spinal cord is merely a message pipeline, bringing messages from the body up to the brain and
messages or decisions from the brain down to the body.
 Three Types of Neurons & the Reflex arc
 Afferent (sensory) neurons carry messages from the senses to spinal cord.
 Efferent (motor) neurons carry messages from the spinal cord to the muscles and glands.
 Inter-neurons that connect the sensory neurons to the motor neurons and make up the inside of the spinal cord
and the brain itself.
 Reflex arc: When you touch a flame or a hot stove with your finger, an afferent neuron will end the pain
message up to the spinal column where it enters into the central area of the spinal cord. The interneuron in that
central area will then receive the message and send out a response along an efferent neuron, causing your finger
to pull back. This all happens very quickly. If the pain message had to go all the way up to the brain before a
response could be made, the response time would be greatly increased and more damage would be done to your
finger. So having this kind of reflex arc controlled by the spinal cord alone allows for very fast response times.
 The Peripheral Nervous System
 The term peripheral refers to things that are not in the center or that are on the edges of the center.
 The peripheral nervous system or PNS is made up of all the nerves and neurons that are not contained in the
brain and spinal cord.
 It is this system that allows the brain and spinal cord to communicate with the sensory systems of the eyes, ears,
skin, and mouth and allows the brain and spinal cord to control the muscles and glands of the body.
 The PNS can be divided into two major systems: the somatic nervous system, which consists of nerves that
control the voluntary muscles of the body, and the autonomic nervous system (ANS), which consists of nerves
that control the involuntary muscles, organs, and glands.
 The Somatic Nervous System
 The somatic nervous system is made up of the sensory pathway, which comprises all the nerves carrying
messages from the senses to the central nervous system, and the motor pathway, which is all of the nerves
carrying messages from the central nervous system to the voluntary, or skeletal,* muscles of the body—muscles
that allow people to move their bodies.
 When people are walking, raising their hands in class, lifting a flower to smell, or directing their gaze toward the
person they are talking to or to look at a pretty picture, they are using the somatic nervous system. (They are
called “voluntary” because they can be moved at will but are not limited to only that kind of movement.)
 Involuntary muscles, such as the heart, stomach, and intestines, together with glands such as the adrenal glands
and the pancreas, are all controlled by clumps of neurons located on or near the spinal column. (The words on or
near are used quite deliberately here. The neurons inside the spinal column are part of the central nervous system,
not the peripheral nervous system.) These large groups of neurons near the spinal column make up the autonomic
nervous system.
Autonomic Nervous System
 Autonomic nervous system:
 The autonomic part of the peripheral nervous system controls involuntary functions, such as organs, the glands
and the involuntary muscles of our internal organs and influences activities such as heartbeat, digestion and
glandular activity. Usually this system operates on its own, that is why it is called autonomic nervous system.
Autonomic nervous system also consists of two parts-
 the sympathetic nervous system
 parasympathetic nervous system
 The Sympathetic Nervous System:
 It is located in the middle of the spinal cord column, running from near the top of the ribcage to the waist area.
 It arouses and expends energy. If something alarms or challenges us our sympathetic nervous system will increase
the heartbeat, raise our blood pressure, slow our digestion, raise blood sugar and cool us with perspiration.
 This makes us alert and ready for action. The heart draws blood away from nonessential organs such as skin, and
sometimes draws blood from even the brain itself.
 Blood needs lot of oxygen before it goes to the muscles, so the lungs work overtime too (the person may begin to
breath faster).
 While dealing with a stressful situation, digestion of food and elimination of waste are not necessary functions, so
these systems tend to be shut down. Saliva dries up, the urge to go to the bathroom will be suppressed but if the
person is really scared, the bladder or bowels may actually empty.
 In fact, the sympathetic nervous system is known as “fight-or-flight system” because it allows people and
animals to deal with all kinds of stressful events.
 The Parasympathetic Nervous System:
 It gets activated once the danger is over and it will produce opposite effects. It will conserve our energy by
decreasing our heart beat, lowering blood sugar, constricts the pupils, reactivates
 digestion and excretion, etc.
 In everyday situations, the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems work together to keep us in a
steady internal state. In other words, its job is to restore the body to normal
 functioning after a stressful situation ends.
 If the sympathetic division can be called the fight-or-flight system, the parasympathetic division can be called
“the-eat-drink-and-rest system”.
 The neurons of this division are located at the top and bottom of the spinal column or either side of the
sympathetic division of neurons.
 The parasympathetic division is responsible for most of the ordinary, day to day bodily functioning. It keeps the
heart beating regularly, breathing normal, and digestion going. People spend most part of the day in eating,
sleeping, digesting and excreting. So, it is the parasympathetic division that is normally active.