Question

Psychologists have described the human nervous system as the communication and control center for the body. The nervous system allows us to take in information from the environment, communicate the information to different parts of the body, and coordinate the body's response. The nervous system itself is made up of neurons, or nerve cells, that communicate with each other by receiving and transmitting electrochemical signals, called neurotransmission. All human behavior is made possible by the activity of individual neurons working together in the nervous system. Think about a simple action you do every day, like answering your phone. When you perform this routine act, what are the individual neurons in your nervous system doing to make it possible?

In a multi-paragraph essay, explain how the activity of individual neurons enables you to perform a simple action like answering your phone. Be sure to describe the main parts of a neuron, explain the unique function of each part, and describe how neurons use electrochemical signals for neurotransmission. Include details from class materials, readings, and research on the nervous system to support your discussion.

Answer 1

Nervous system play a very important role in maintaing and sustaining one's life. The Nervous system is divided into two parts, namely Centeral Nervous System (CNS) and Peripheral Nervous System (PNS). The CNS controls the brain and the spinal cord, whereas, the PNS controls all the other nerves in the body. The PNS is further divided into two namely, the Autonomic Nervous System also called as Involuntary Nervous system which is responsible for all the involuntary regulations such as breathing, digestion etc. This is further divided into two, The sympathetic divison and the parasympathetic division. And the second, The Somatic Nervous system also called as voluntary nervous system which takes care of all the voluntary actions one performs.

Neurons play a dramatic role in the human life. The entire Nervous system is made of several billion Neurons, which is magnificient in its own ways. Neurons simply carry messages, from one part of your body to another. A Neuron has three basic parts: dendrites, a cell body, and an axon. The junction where one neuron sends impulses to another neuron or another type of cell is called a synapse.

The dendrites carry impulses toward the neuron’s cell body. The axon carries impulses away from the cell body. Nerve impulses begin in a dendrite, move toward the cell body, and then move down the axon. A neuron can have many dendrites, but it has only one axon. An axon, however, can have more than one tip, so the impulse can go to more than one other cell. Axons and dendrites are sometimes called nerve fibers. A bundle of nerve fibers is called a nerve. The Synapse takes care of transmitting the information to another neuron, which makes it easy for the action to be taken.

In detail, there are three types of Neuron which is responsible for for the above mentioned simple action, "answering a phone call."

Sensory Neuron: The minute the phone rings, this neuron takes the information through the sense organs (Hearing) and transmit it to the brain for the next actions to be performed. All the information externally and internally is gathered by the sensory neuron and is transmitted to the brain.

Interneurons: These are the communication neurons. They recieve the information from the sensory neurons, and pass it from one neuron to another. it is located in the brain and the spinal cord. For instance, when your phone rings, interneurons receive the messages from your sensory neurons about the ringing noise. Your brain determines that the noise is coming from your phone and you make the decision to answer it.

Motor Neurons: Also called as the action neuron. Once the decision has been made by the brain, by command of other neurons, motor neurons send nerve impulses to muscles and glands. In the example of your ringing phone, interneurons signaled thousands of motor neurons. The motor neurons then signaled your muscles to pick up the phone and answer.

These three neurons play a very important role in helping you perform these actions. However, the process for the communication from one neuron to another neuron is significantly taken care by the Syanpse. The Synapse helps the neurons to talk to each other.

The sending neuron also reffered to the Pre-Synaptic Cell and the receiving neuron also reffered to the Post-Synaptic Cell are separated by a small space called a Synapse. The end of the sending neuron's axon has small sacs called vesicles that store a special chemical messenger called a neurotransmitter. When this chemical is released, it can have one of two effects on the receiving neuron: it can excite it into action or it can inhibit (block or slow down) action. A neuron receiving certain signals produces an electrical impulse and fires off a message to other neurons (called as axon potentail) by releasing its own chemical transmitter. The process can be thought of as an endless chain reaction among billions of neurons. All these communication happens in matter of a million seconds, in a blink of an eye. Yet, the process looks really complex. Thus, the neuron with its magnamus functions helps us our day-to day lives. Even the small action likfe picking up the phone, is possible by the three kinds of neurons which are transmitted by axon through the syanpses which directs the actions to be performed.