Nervous system
hideThe nervous system is a network of specialized cells that communicate information about an organism's surroundings and itself. It processes this information and causes reactions in other parts of the body. It is composed of neurons and other specialized cells called glial cells,(plural form glia), that aid in the function of the neurons. The nervous system is divided broadly into two categories: the peripheral nervous system and the central nervous system. Neurons generate and conduct impulses between and within the two systems. The peripheral nervous system is composed of sensory neurons and the neurons that connect them to the nerve cord, spinal cord and brain, which make up the central nervous system. In response to stimuli, sensory neurons generate and propagate signals to the central nervous system which then processes and conducts signals back to the muscles and glands. The neurons of the nervous systems of animals are interconnected in complex arrangements and use electrochemical signals and neurotransmitters to transmit impulses from one neuron to the next. The interaction of the different neurons form neural circuits regulate an organism's perception of the world and what is going on with its body, thus regulating its behavior. Nervous systems are found in many multicellular animals but differ greatly in complexity between species.
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News tagged with nervous system
Schizophrenia gene's role may be broader, more potent, than thought
Nov 19, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- UCSF scientists studying nerve cells in fruit flies have uncovered a new function for a gene whose human equivalent may play a critical role in schizophrenia.
The protein Srebp2 drives cholesterol formation in prion-infected neuronal cells
Nov 18, 2009 |
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Prions are causing fatal and infectious diseases of the nervous system, such as the mad cow disease (BSE), scrapie in sheep or Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans. Scientists of Helmholtz Zentrum München and Technische Universität ...
Pushing the brain to find new pathways
Nov 17, 2009 |
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Until recently, scientists believed that, following a stroke, a patient had about six months to regain any lost function. After that, patients would be forced to compensate for the lost function by focusing on their remaining ...
Report Says Musicians Hear Better Than Non-Musicians
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Nov 17, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- The Journal of Neuroscience reports this week that musicians are better than non-musicians at recognizing speech in noisy environments. The finding from a study conducted by neurobiologists at Nor ...
On your last nerve: Researchers advance understanding of stem cells
Nov 17, 2009 |
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Researchers from North Carolina State University have identified a gene that tells embryonic stem cells in the brain when to stop producing nerve cells called neurons. The research is a significant advance ...
California Academy of Sciences becomes first aquarium in US to breed dwarf cuttlefish
Nov 12, 2009 |
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Anchored to an algae-covered rock in a 120-gallon tank at the California Academy of Sciences' Steinhart Aquarium, a cluster of inky-colored cuttlefish eggs is beginning to swell—evidence of success for the ...
Researchers to develop probes to study cellular GPS
Nov 10, 2009 |
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An international group of researchers from Carnegie Mellon University, Goettingen Medical School in Germany and the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom have received a Human Frontiers Science Program (HFSP) grant ...
Yoga boosts heart health
Nov 09, 2009 |
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Heart rate variability, a sign of a healthy heart, has been shown to be higher in yoga practitioners than in non-practitioners, according to research to be published in a forthcoming issue of the International Journal of ...
Crossing the line: how aggressive cells invade the brain (w/ Video)
Nov 05, 2009 |
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In diseases such as multiple sclerosis, cells of the immune system infiltrate the brain tissue, where they cause immense damage. For many years, it was an enigma as to how these cells can escape from the bloodstream. ...
UCI robot to aid brain research
Nov 04, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A robot powered by a computerized model of a rodent brain will help researchers from UC Irvine and UC San Diego understand how people recognize and adapt to change.
Spinal cord regeneration enabled by stabilizing, improving delivery of scar-degrading enzyme
Nov 02, 2009 |
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Researchers have developed an improved version of an enzyme that degrades the dense scar tissue that forms when the central nervous system is damaged. By digesting the tissue that blocks re-growth of damaged ...
Brain tumors in childhood leave a lasting mark on cognition, life status
Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry
Nov 02, 2009 |
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Brain tumors in childhood cast a long shadow on survivors. The first study of the lasting impact of these tumors -- the most common solid malignancies in childhood -- shows that survivors have ongoing cognitive problems. ...
Regeneration can be achieved after chronic spinal cord injury
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Oct 28, 2009 |
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Scientists at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine report that regeneration of central nervous system axons can be achieved in rats even when treatment delayed is more than a year after the original ...
A nervous system drug-by-design
Oct 26, 2009 |
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Working like an architect, Prof. Hagit Eldar-Finkelman of Tel Aviv University's Sackler School of Medicine is "building" a new drug, L803-MTS, to treat a number of central nervous system (CNS) diseases like Alzheimer's. In ...
Master regulator found for regenerating nerve fibers in live animals
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Oct 25, 2009 |
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Researchers at Children's Hospital Boston report that an enzyme known as Mst3b, previously identified in their lab, is essential for regenerating damaged axons (nerve fibers) in a live animal model, in both the peripheral ...
