The Nervous System and its functions are summarized in three steps: integrative, sensory, and motor. Sensory function allows the body to respond to stimuli, and produce signals that carry information about the stimuli to the spinal cord or the brain. The ability to receive, process, store and retrieve that information is the integrative function; it decides whether it should or how it should respond. To issue an outgoing signal to the muscles and the gland cells to generate a response requires the use of the motor function. Central Nervous System (CNS) and the Peripheral Nervous System (PNS) make up the two main anatomical subdivisions of the nervous system. CNS carries out the integrative functions and consists of the brain and the spinal cord; it is protected and enclosed by bone for example the cranium and vertebral column. The peripheral nervous system is connected to the CNS and sends nerves back and forth. PNS provides pathways of signal input and output for the CNS, connecting it to the body’s sense organs, muscles, and glands. Neurons are in charge of the communication in …show more content…
Between one region of the brain and another there are bundles of nerve fibers called tracts, they travel along the spinal cord and make up the white matter. Most of these tracts have a pearly white color due to myelin. Dendrites, Neurosomas, and synapses are located in the gray matter. In fresh nervous tissue it has a dull color due to less myelin. White matter acts as the telephone cable (nerve fibers) carrying the signal but it does not do any of the processing. The gray matter is the information processing part. Gray matter forms the inner core of the spinal cord while the white matter makes up the surface tissue. Deep tissue in the brain is formed by the white matter and gray matter forms the surface layer and some deep masses in the white matter. (Saladin,