Understanding The Nervous System

The concepts I have learned from Chapter Eleven is the understanding of The Nervous System and how it controls every system of our bodies. In the beginning I had trouble understanding The Peripheral Nervous System and the sensory receptors as they related to the body functions. I was able to understand the function of the sensory receptors based on the experience of a burn patient.

The electrical signals of the brain were also difficult for me to understand, I understood that the brain consisted of numerous components but in order for the brain to function completely and correctly, each electrical signal within the brain had to perform its intended function without any disruption from a chemical embalance.

I was able to understand the role of electrical signals in the brain by relating it to babies having a seizure without a diagnosis of epilepsy. Too often pediatricians will tell parents to give their babies water to drink, however there is a limit to how much water ishould be given to a baby, if a baby receives too much water, it will cause an electrolyte imbalance within the brain, triggering a negative response from the brain, resulting in a seizure.

The Peripheral Nervous System consists of the sensory receptors, this area of the brain was difficult for me to understand based on the reading of material, however I related the sensory receptors to that of a burn patient based on the loss of some or all of their sensory receptors depending on the degree of their burns.  For example, if an individual suffers third degree burns to over sixty percent of their body, then therefore the sensory receptors of their body will stop functioning altogether along with permanent damage to the nerve endings. Their bodies would not utilize the reception of detecting pain, touch and most of all their bodies would not be able to maintain the normal body temperature of 37 degrees celcius. I was able to learn that the sensory receptors provide a significant role in the functionong of the nervous system.

The questions that I created that helped me think more clearly about the concepts of The Nervous System were, What role does the Nervous System contribute to the organ systems of the body? What would happen if the central nervous system or the peripheral nervous system stopped working? How would the improper functioning of one of the two types of nervous system effect the function of the other?