The Major Divisions of The Nervous System

The Major
Divisions
of the
Nervous
The central nervous system consists of
the brain and the spinal cord. The central
nervous system communicates with the rest
of the body by the peripheral nervous
system, which consists of bundles of
nerves between the spinal cord and the rest
of the body
There are two parts of the peripheral

nervous system.
• Somatic Nervous System, which
connects to the skin and muscles
• Autonomic Nervous System, which
connects to the heart, stomach, and
The central nervous system begins its
embryological development as a tube with three
lumps. These lumps develop into the
forebrain, midbrain, and hindbrain. The rest
of the tube develops into the spinal cord. The
forebrain, which contains the cerebral cortex
and other structures, is the dominant portion of
the human brain.
The Forebrain:
Cerebral Cortex
The forebrain consists of two hemispheres, left and
right. Each hemisphere controls sensation and
movement on the opposite side of the body. The
outer covering of the forebrain, known as the
cerebral cortex, is especially prominent in
humans.
We describe the cerebral cortex in terms of four
lobes: occipital, temporal, parietal and frontal
lobes.
The occipital lobe, at the rear of the
head, is specialized for vision. People
with damage in this area have cortical
blindness: They have no conscious
vision, no object recognition, and no
visual imagery (not even in dreams),
although they still have eye blinks and
other visual reflexes that do not require
the cerebral cortex.
The temporal lobe of each
hemisphere, located toward the left and
right sides of the head, is the main area
for hearing and some of the complex
aspects of vision.
Other parts of the temporal lobe are
critical for certain aspects of emotion. The
amygdala, a subcortical structure deep
within the temporal lobe, responds
strongly to emotional situations. People
with damage to the amygdala are slow to
process emotional information, such as
facial expressions and descriptions of
emotional situations. In contrast, people
with an easily aroused amygdala tend to
be shy and fearful throughout their lives.
The parietal lobe, just anterior The primary somatosensory cortex, a
(forward) from the occipital lobe, strip in the anterior portion of the parietal
is specialized for the body senses, lobe, has cells sensitive to touch in
including touch, pain, different body areas. In the picture below,
temperature, and awareness of note that the largest areas are devoted to
the location of body parts in touch in the most sensitive areas, such as
space. the lips and hands.Damage to any part of
the somatosensory
cortex impairs sensation
from the corresponding
body part.
The frontal lobe, at the anterior (forward)
pole of the brain, includes the primary
motor cortex, important for the planned
control of fine movements, such as moving
one finger at a time.
As with the primary somatosensory cortex,
each area of the primary motor cortex
controls a different part of the body, and
larger areas are devoted to precise
The anterior sections of the frontal lobe,
movements of the tongue and fingers as
called the prefrontal cortex, contribute
opposed to, say, the shoulder and elbow
to certain aspects of memory and to the
muscles, which have smaller
planning of movements—that is,
representations.
decision making.
Mirror Neurons, which are found in several brain
areas but especially the frontal cortex. Mirror neurons
are active when you make a movement and also when
you watch someone one else make a similar movement
The Forebrain:
The interior of the forebrain includes several
subcortical areas
other structures. At the center is the
thalamus, which is the last stop for almost
all sensory information on the way to the
cerebral cortex. Surrounding the thalamus
are other areas called the limbic system. (A
limbus is a margin or border.) One of these
areas, the hippocampus, is important for
memory. The hypothalamus, located just
below the thalamus, is important for hunger,
thirst, temperature regulation, sex, and
other motivated behaviors. The amygdala is
Motor Control
The cerebral cortex does not directly control the
muscles. It sends some of its output to the
pons and medulla which control the muscles
of the head. The rest of its output passes
through the pons and medulla to the spinal
cord, which controls the muscles from the neck
down. The spinal cord also controls many
reflexes, such as the kneejerk reflex, without
relying on input from the brain. A reflex is a
The cerebellum, part of the hindbrain, is important for
any behavior that requires aim or timing, such as tapping
out a rhythm, judging which of two visual stimuli is
moving faster, and judging whether one musical tempo is
faster or slower than another.
Measuring Brain
Activity An Electroencephalograph (EEG) uses
electrodes on the scalp to record rapid changes in
brain electrical activity. A similar method is a
Magnetoencephalography (MEG), which
records magnetic changes.
Both methods provide data on a millisecond-by-

millisecond basis, so they measure the brain’s
reactions to lights, sounds, and other events.
However, because they record from the surface of
the scalp, they provide little precision about the
Positron-Emission Tomography (PET)
records radioactivity of various brain areas
emitted from injected chemicals. First,
someone receives an injection of a
radioactively labeled compound such as
glucose. The brain’s most active areas
rapidly absorb glucose, a sugar that is the
brain’s main fuel (almost its only fuel).
Therefore, the labeled glucose emits
radioactivity primarily from those areas.
Detectors around the head record the
radioactivity and send the results to a
computer that generates an image such as the
picture shown. Red indicates areas of greatest
activity, followed by yellow, green, and blue.
Unfortunately, PET scans require exposing the
brain to radioactivity.
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI), uses magnetic
detectors outside the head to compare the amounts of hemoglobin
with and without oxygen in different brain areas. (Adding or removing
oxygen changes the response of hemoglobin to a magnetic field.) The
most active brain areas use the most oxygen and therefore decrease
the oxygen bound to the blood’s hemoglobin. The fMRI technique
indicates which brain areas are currently the most active on a second-
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The Major

There are two parts of the peripheral

Both methods provide data on a millisecond-by-

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