1.2 Overview of the Nervous System

The nervous system is divided up into the:

Central nervous system and peripheral nervous system

The central nervous system includes the:

Brain and spinal cord

The peripheral nervous system is the ______

Network of nerves

The peripheral nervous system branches out from the ______ to the ______

CNS; rest of the body

Within the peripheral nervous system, there is the:

Somatic and autonomic nervous systems

The somatic nervous system controls:

Voluntary movement

The autonomic nervous system handles ______ stuff

Automatic

The autonomic nervous system handles automatic stuff like:

Heartbeat and digestion

Subdivisions of the autonomic nervous system:

Sympathetic and parasympathetic

The central nervous system is responsible for:

Processing information, making decisions, and coordinating responses

The brain does most of the:

Thinking, sensing, and feeling

The spinal cord acts like a:

Superhighway

The spinal cord acts like a superhighway since it:

Carries messages between brain and body

The central nervous system receives and interprets:

Sensory input

The central nervous system receives and interprets sensory input like:

Sight, sound, and touch

The central nervous system sends ______ to ______

Motor commands to muscles

The central nervous system handles:

Thought, memory, emotion, awareness

The central nervous system coordinates:

Reflexes and automatic reactions

Without the central nervous system, the rest of the nervous system would not know:

What to do

When you see a ball coming, your occipital lobe processes the visual input, your frontal lobe decides to move, and your spinal cord sends signals to your muscles to catch it, all while regulating your heartbeat and breathing

Which part of the body is responsible for all this?

Central nervous system

The peripheral nervous system links the ______ to the ______

Brain and spinal cord; rest of the body

The peripheral nervous system does not:

Make decisions

The peripheral nervous system makes sure that signals:

Get where they need to go

The somatic nervous system controls ______

Voluntary actions

The somatic nervous system controls voluntary actions like:

Walking, talking, or picking up a book

The somatic nervous system carries:

Sensory information

The somatic nervous system carries sensory information from ______ to ______

Skin, muscles, joints to central nervous system

The somatic nervous system sends ______

Motor signals

The somatic nervous system sends motor signals from ______ to ______

Central nervous system to muscles

Every second, humans form conscious decisions to do voluntary movements, such as picking up a pencil

Which part of the body is responsible for this?

Somatic nervous system

The autonomic nervous system controls:

Involuntary functions

Involuntary functions are stuff that the body does:

Automatically

The autonomic nervous system regulates ______

Internal organs

The autonomic nervous system regulates internal organs like the:

Heart, lungs, stomach

The main function of the sympathetic nervous system is to:

Prepare body for action and stress

Nickname of sympathetic nervous system:

Fight or flight

Main function of parasympathetic nervous system:

Calms body and restores balance

Nickname of parasympathetic nervous system:

Rest and digest

The sympathetic division gets you going when you are:

In danger or excited

Physiological changes wrought by the sympathetic nervous system:

Increased heart rate, dilated pupils, slowed digestion

The parasympathetic division brings you back to:

Normal

Physiological changes wrought by the parasympathetic division:

Lowered heart rate and restarting digestion

The parasympathetic nervous system tries to ______ energy

Conserve

You can think of the parasympathetic system as like a:

Parachute

The parasympathetic system is like a parachute because it helps you to:

Slow down

The parasympathetic system is like a parachute because it returns you to a:

Calm, balanced state

Just like a parachute brings you ______, the parasympathetic division brings you body back to ______ after stress

Back to the ground; normal

The sympathetic nervous system speeds you up / slows you down

Speeds you up

the sympathetic nervous system is involved in:

Stress, action, and alertness

The parasympathetic nervous system is involved in:

Relaxation, recovery, rest

When you see a bear, your heart starts beating faster, your pupils dilate to take in more information, and lungs widen to increase airflow for escaping

Which body part is responsible for this?

Sympathetic nervous system

After escaping from a bear, your heart slows down, your pupils constrict, and your lungs airways also constrict as you don’t need too breathe as quickly

Which body part is responsible for this?

Parasympathetic nervous system

Is the somatic nervous system voluntary?

Yes

The somatic nervous system controls:

Skeletal muscles and sensory info

Is the autonomic nervous system voluntary?

No

The autonomic nervous system controls:

Internal organs and automatic processes

Function of central nervous system:

Processes info and sends commands

Function of the peripheral nervous system:

Communicate between CNS and body

The peripheral nervous system includes:

Nerves and ganglia

The somatic nervous system includes:

Skeletal muscles, skin, joints

The autonomic nervous system includes:

Heart, lungs, stomach, glands

The nervous system controls everything from ______ to ______

Conscious decisions to automatic survival responses

The brain is the central organ of the ______

Central nervous system

The brain processes:

Information

The brain controls:

Body functions

The spinal cord is a bundle of:

Nerves