Disorders of the Brain and Central Nervous System

Abstract

Our brain and nervous system is the basic organ system that regulates our mental functions of thinking, feeling, and acting. We can divide the nervous system into two parts, the Central Nervous System (CNS) and the Peripheral Nervous System (PNS). The brain is located in the CNS while the neurons that deliver messages to and from the brain and the rest of the body are in the PNS. The PNS is divided into two major systems, the Somatic Nervous System that regulates our voluntary movements and the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) that regulates our involuntary movements such as our emotions, breathing, heart rate, and blood pressure. The ANS is further divided into two sections, the sympathetic which expends energy and the parasympathetic which conserves energy. These systems all work together in a coordinated way, telling the body when to manufacture more or fewer neurochemicals called neurotransmitters that will facilitate or shut down the messages that go to and from the brain and make our body work.