Whether you’re interested in learning about different bodily systems or you’ve noticed concerning symptoms in yourself or your child, understanding how the nervous system works is an important part of understanding the human body. In this post, we’ll break down the basics of the nervous system and show you how it works within your body as well as what can happen if it malfunctions.
The Basics
Your nervous system controls all the functions in your body from breathing to digesting to moving your muscles. It runs on electrical pulses that are sent to and from your brain. Your brain includes special cells called neurons that interpret these signals and turn them into actions.
Voluntary vs. Involuntary Actions
The nervous system is a complex network and so is divided into multiple categories. The two primary categories you should know are autonomic and somatic.
The autonomic nervous system handles all of the unconscious actions in your body, such as breathing, digesting, balance, circulation and more. It’s critical to proper function, so when something goes wrong with this system it can cause serious problems.
Dysregulation of the autonomic nervous system is called dysautonomia. This diagnosis means that certain parts of the body aren’t regulating correctly, usually the heart and circulation. People with this diagnosis often experience symptoms such as irregular heartbeat, poor circulation and even fainting.
The somatic nervous system is responsible for all of your conscious actions. It’s responsible for sending signals to your muscles to help you move, talk, eat and do other things. This is a more direct type of nervous response that you can consciously control.
Problems with the somatic nervous system might result in conditions such as Parkinson’s or multiple sclerosis, where people experience pain, trembling, weakness or other issues with the function of their muscles.
Central vs. Peripheral
Another distinction between portions of your nervous system are the central and peripheral systems. These don’t refer as much to what the nerves do, as with autonomic and somatic, but are more about where the nerves are located.
The central nervous system refers to the brain and spine. There is a complex network of nerves and neurons housed in your brain and spine that are responsible for the majority of your body’s function. Each of these nerves is coated in a protective substance called myelin. This helps keep out bacteria and viruses that might harm your nerves.
The peripheral nervous system refers to all of the nerves that branch off of the central system and into the body. These live in your organs, muscles and bones and send information from your central nervous system to your body. Both your autonomic and somatic nervous systems are housed in the peripheral nervous system.
Alert vs. Relaxed
Finally, there are your sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. These two systems are focused on helping you survive and thrive.
The sympathetic nervous system lives mostly in your spinal cord. It’s responsible for helping you stay alert, which means it signals chemicals such as adrenaline and cortisol that put you on alert when your body senses danger.
Your parasympathetic nervous system does the opposite. It helps to calm you back down, restore homeostasis and reduce stress chemicals in your body. Together, these two systems keep your body in proper balance and keep you out of danger.
Some people’s bodies have trouble regulating the switch from sympathetic to parasympathetic nervous systems, however. When this happens, they might feel increased anxiety or fear that they struggle to manage on their own. This is because their body is failing to send signals that a threat is gone or that it’s sending threat signals when there is no threat.
The nervous system is a complex network of electrical signals that help your body function, both consciously and unconsciously. The more you understand how your nervous systems and the symptoms of something gone wrong, the easier it is to take care of your body.
