The nervous system

The nervous system is made up of billions of microscopic nerve cells, each with a cell body and one or
more fine projections that very considerably in lengh: the longest, the sciatic, runs from the lumbar
spine down co the toes. They are bundled together in connective sheaths to from the nerve fibers that
are visible to the naked eye in disecction. The projections of the nerve cells conduct impulses to and
from the cell bodies by chemical and electrical processes. "Dendrites' current impulses toward the cell
body; "axons" transmit messages away from the cell body. Fluid chemical agents called
"neurotransmitters" convey impulses from one nerve celI to another over gaps between them called
"synapses”, passing from the end of the axon of one nerve cell to the beginning of the dendrite of
another. In this way mewages can be conveyed trhroughout a complex network to all parts of the body.
(Fig 9.1)

The number of possible connections among the nerve cell of the brain alone is almost infinite. Carl
Sagan claims on evidence of a mathematical caIculation that the number of synapses between cells in
the human brain can potentially give rise to a number of different mental states and functional
configurations that the number of elementary particles in the universe! Whether we accept this
statement as fact or only as imagination, it nevertheless conveys a powerful image of the truly awesome
potential for choice within the human nervous system and variety in human behavior and experience.

Between the conducting nerve cells, or neurons, of the central nervous system lie many more
nonconducting cells called "glial" cells. These function as connective tissue to support and protect the
neurons and may also play a role in nutritive processes. Although there is as yet no concrete evidence of
this, it is also possible that the glial cells support the process of repatterning through the nervous
system, helping to make connections between neurons where these links are damaged or broken. There
are about nine glial cells to every neuron.

The nervous system consists of the brain and spinal cord, the spinal, cranial, and peripheral nerves, and
the special sense organs of taste, smell, hearing, touch, equilibrium and vision. The brain lies within and
is protected bv the skulI. The cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) flows within membranous linings between the
brain tissue and bones of the skull; this fluid acts to lubricate and to absorb shocks to the skull, and also
supplies nutrients to the brain. The spinal cord extends down from the lower brain through spaces at
the center of each vertebra, which form a hollow channeI through the length o f the spine. The spinal
cord is protected by the vertebrae, the membranous linings,<andthe CSF that flows around it and within
the “central canal” down its length. Th espinal nerves come off the spinal cord betweeneach vertebra,
one on each side of the spine; these are sheathed bundles of nerve fibers that then separtate out like
the branches of a tree, radiating to all parts ode the body as perpheral nerves. At the level of the second
lumbar vertebra, the spinal cord ends; from here on the nerves, no longer protected by the covering of
the spinal cord, pass vertically down within the vertebral column until they exit from their respective
vertebral openings. These nerves, running parallel within the vertebral column form thesecond lumbar
to the fifth sacral vertebra, form the cauda equina, or "horse’s tail." Awareness of the fanning of the
nerve fibers in the "horse's tail" can give a feeling of added mobility in this frequently too-rigid area.
(Fig. 9.2)

Emanating from the brain are also twelve pairs of cranial nerves that are associated primarily with the
special senses of the head and the muscles of the face, throat, and neck. One, the tenth cranial nerve,
affects the functioning of many of the thoracic and abdominal organs. The sense organs themselves,
with their specialized sensory receptors, also lie within the protective casing of the skull, of course wich
their distinctive opening to the outer environment.