Nervous System: What Does It Do? (2024)

What does the nervous system do?

Your nervous system’s main function is to send messages from various parts of your body to your brain, and from your brain back out to your body to tell your body what to do. These messages regulate your:

  • Thoughts, memory, learning and feelings.
  • Movements (balance and coordination).
  • Senses (how your brain interprets what you see, hear, taste, touch and feel).
  • Wound healing.
  • Sleep.
  • Heartbeat and breathing patterns.
  • Response to stressful situations, including sweat production.
  • Digestion.
  • Body processes, such as puberty and aging.

How does the nervous system work?

Your nervous system uses nerve cells called neurons to send signals, or messages, all over your body. These electrical signals travel among your brain, skin, organs, glands and muscles.

The messages help you move your limbs and feel sensations, like pain. Your eyes, ears, tongue, nose and the nerves all over your body take in information about your environment. Then, nerves carry that data to and from your brain.

There are different types of neurons. Each type of neuron has a different job:

  • Motor neurons take signals from your brain and spinal cord to your muscles. They help you move. They also assist with breathing, swallowing and speaking.
  • Sensory neurons take information from your senses (what you see, touch, taste, etc.) to your brain.
  • Interneurons communicate between motor and sensory neurons. These neurons regulate your movement in response to sensory information (like moving away from a hot surface) and play a role in how you learn, think and remember.
Nervous System: What Does It Do? (2024)

FAQs

Nervous System: What Does It Do? ›

The nervous system is responsible for intelligence, learning, memory, movement, the senses and basic body functions such as your heartbeat and breathing. The basic building blocks of the nervous system are the nerve cells (neurons) which are responsible for carrying messages to and from different parts of the body.

What is the function of the nervous system? ›

The nervous system transmits signals between the brain and the rest of the body, including internal organs. In this way, the nervous system's activity controls the ability to move, breathe, see, think, and more. The basic unit of the nervous system is a nerve cell, or neuron.

What does the nervous system do to us? ›

The nervous system takes in information through our senses, processes the information and triggers reactions, such as making your muscles move or causing you to feel pain. For example, if you touch a hot plate, you reflexively pull back your hand and your nerves simultaneously send pain signals to your brain.

What are the 4 main things that the nervous system does? ›

The 4 main functions of the nervous system are:
  • Reception of general sensory information (touch, pressure, temperature, pain, vibration)
  • Receiving and perceiving special sensations (taste, smell, vision, sounds)
  • Integration of sensory information from different parts of the body and processing them.
  • Response generation.

What are nervous and what do they do? ›

Nerves are like cables that carry electrical impulses between your brain and the rest of your body. These impulses help you feel sensations and move your muscles. They also maintain certain autonomic functions like breathing, sweating or digesting food.

What are the three main functions of the nervous system in order? ›

The main functions of the nervous system are sensation, response, and integration.
  • Sensation refers to sensory functions. ...
  • Response refers to motor functions. ...
  • Integration refers to when sensory information needs to be combined with higher brain functions such as memory, emotion, or learning.

What would happen without the nervous system? ›

Our nervous system is as complex as it is fascinating. Without nerve cells, we wouldn't know if it's dark or light, hot or cold. We wouldn't be able to touch anything or feel if someone is touching us.

What does the nervous system do everyday? ›

It guides everyday activities such as waking up; automatic activities such as breathing; and complex processes such as thinking, reading, remembering, and feeling emotions. The nervous system controls: Brain growth and development. Sensations (such as touch or hearing)

How to heal the nervous system? ›

Rebalancing your nervous system means getting back to a state where you feel calm and centered. You can try practicing deep breathing exercises, spending time in nature, or taking short breaks during the day. Regular sleep, a balanced diet, and talking to someone you trust can also help.

What are 3 things the nervous system controls? ›

It controls many aspects of what you think, how you feel and what your body does. It allows you to do things such as walk, speak, swallow, breathe and learn. It also controls how the body reacts in stressful situations. The nervous system interprets and responds to information gathered through the senses.

Why is our nervous system important? ›

The nervous system helps all the parts of the body to communicate with each other. It also reacts to changes both outside and inside the body. The nervous system uses both electrical and chemical means to send and receive messages.

What does the nervous system mainly do? ›

Your nervous system's main function is to send messages from various parts of your body to your brain, and from your brain back out to your body to tell your body what to do. These messages regulate your: Thoughts, memory, learning and feelings. Movements (balance and coordination).

What happens when your body gets nervous? ›

In the short term, anxiety increases your breathing and heart rate, concentrating blood flow to your brain, where you need it. This very physical response is preparing you to face an intense situation. If it gets too intense, however, you might start to feel lightheaded and nauseous.

What is not a function of the nervous system? ›

Answer and Explanation: The option that is not a function of the central nervous system (CNS) is e. producing digestive enzymes. Producing digestive enzymes is a responsibility of the stomach, pancreas, liver, and small intestine, not the central nervous system.

What is the main function of the nervous system quizlet? ›

The main functions of the central nervous system is to PROCESS information received through sensory systems and other parts of the body and to activate appropriate actions to the external/internal stimuli.

Are the main functional cells of the nervous system? ›

Your nervous system uses nerve cells called neurons to send signals, or messages, all over your body. These electrical signals travel among your brain, skin, organs, glands and muscles.

What are the higher functions of the nervous system? ›

Consequently, the terms higher cerebral functions and higher cortical functions are used by neurologists and neuroscientists to refer to all conscious mental activity, such as thinking, remembering, and reasoning, and to complex volitional behavior, such as speaking and carrying out purposive movement.

What is the function of the neuron? ›

Neurons (also called neurones or nerve cells) are the fundamental units of the brain and nervous system, the cells responsible for receiving sensory input from the external world, for sending motor commands to our muscles, and for transforming and relaying the electrical signals at every step in between.

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