You've probably heard of the human nervous system, but do you know how it works? It's pretty amazing. The human nervous system is a collection of nerve cells that connect to each other and send messages throughout your body. These messages are called action potentials, electrical waves that travel along neurons (the long fibers connecting nerve cells) until they reach the end of their line at the synapse (the junction between two neurons). The synapse then sends those signals down another neuron—and so on!
Your nervous system consists of your brain and spinal cord
The brain is the control center of your body's nervous system, while the spinal cord connects it to all other parts of your body. The key to understanding how muscle movement happens is understanding how these two parts work together. Your muscles are controlled by neurons--special cells that send electrical signals from one place to another via chemicals called neurotransmitters (nerve transmitters). There are two types of neurons: sensory and motor neurons. Sensory neurons receive information about what's happening in your environment and then send this information up through the spinal cord until it reaches its destination in either another sensory neuron or a motor neuron (depending on whether they're sending signals outwards or inward). Motor neurons carry those signals back down into muscles so they can contract appropriately; if you want to move something with purposeful intent like picking up an object next time you're at home alone without anyone else around, this would be where it happens!
This system is responsible for all movement, feeling, thinking, and memory
It's also the conductor of your body orchestra. The central nervous system includes your brain and spinal cord; the peripheral nervous system consists of nerves that branch off from the spinal cord and go to various tissues in your body (like muscles).
The brain receives information from your senses by way of action potentials: these are generated by changing concentrations of certain chemicals in cells.
It's also the conductor of your body orchestra
The nervous system is responsible for all movement, feeling, and thinking. The brain is the control center of your nervous system. It coordinates communication between all body cells to make sure they do what they're supposed to do at the right time and place. The brain receives electrical signals from your eyes, ears, and other sensory organs; it sends out commands via nerves throughout your body (including muscles); it processes information from these signals into memories; then it uses those memories as a basis for decisions about how best to move forward with life--or at least that's how I imagine things happening inside my head when I'm trying not to bump into things while walking down a crowded street full of people who don't understand why I can't see them coming toward me...
But even though our brains are capable of processing 200 billion bits of information per second (or 20 terabytes), we still aren't sure exactly how this amazing organ works its magic--and maybe we never will!
The central nervous system includes your brain and spinal cord
The brain is the control center of your body, and it's made up of three layers of protective tissue:
- The outer layer (gray matter) contains nerve cells that send signals to other parts of the body.
- Underneath that is a layer of white matter, which consists primarily of axons--long projections from neurons that carry messages between them. These fibers connect various regions within each hemisphere or side of the cerebrum as well as between different parts of this large structure itself (for example, between areas responsible for movement versus sensation).
- In between these two layers lies another space filled with cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), which cushions them both while also helping distribute nutrients throughout all parts involved in processing information received through sensory organs such as eyesight or hearing ability."
The peripheral nervous system
The peripheral nervous system consists of nerves that branch off from the spinal cord and go to various tissues in the body. The peripheral nervous system carries information to and from the brain and spinal cord. It also facilitates communication within the body, so it's responsible for your ability to feel pain, touch things, see light or darkness (depending on what type of photoreceptor cells you have), hear sounds, breathe air into your lungs, swallow food down into your stomach where it gets digested by enzymes secreted by another set of specialized cells called gut flora (more on those later), walk around on two legs instead of four like apes do--you get my point!
Your brain receives information from your senses
Your brain receives information from your senses (for example vision or hearing) through sensory neurons that send signals to it by way of action potentials (electrical waves). Action potentials are generated by changing concentrations of certain chemicals in cells called neurotransmitters. Neurotransmitters travel along small channels in the cell membrane and bind to receptors on the surface of adjacent neurons, causing them to depolarize (or become more positive) which triggers an influx of calcium ions into the cell and an increase in its excitability. This causes another action potential which travels down axons towards synapses with other neurons where it can be passed on.
These action potentials are generated by changing concentrations
Neurotransmitters are chemicals that help cells communicate. They're released from one cell and bind to another cell's receptors, which changes their membrane potential. The membrane potential is the difference in electrical charges between the inside and outside of a cell; it can be thought of as similar to an electric charge, except that instead of being positive or negative (like electricity), it's either excitatory or inhibitory.
There is a lot going on beneath the surface!
Your nervous system is responsible for coordinating all movement, feeling, thinking, and memory. It's the conductor of your body orchestra! The brain is the most complex organ in your body; it is made up of billions of neurons (nerve cells) that send electrical signals back and forth between each other. These signals are transmitted along axons (thin extensions from nerve cells) to other parts of the body via nerves that branch off from the spinal cord or brain stem.
Conclusion
You may not think about your nervous system much, but it's constantly working for you. It controls all of your body's movements and processes information from your senses. Without the nervous system, we wouldn't be able to move or feel anything at all!
