For this assignment use your text to fill in the blanks with the appropriate information.

The Parts of the Nervous System

What are the parts of the nervous system?
The nervous system consists of the brain, the spinal cord, and the __nerves______ linking
them to the sensory organs, muscles, and glands. As shown in Figure 2.4, the brain and
spinal cord make up the _________Central nervous system__________. If you compare your
nervous system to a computer,
your central nervous system
would be your central
processing unit (CPU). The
___afferent______ neurons,
which receive and transmit
messages to the brain and
spinal cord, and the
______efferent neurons______
messages from the brain or
spinal cord to the muscles and
glands, make up the peripheral
nervous system. In the
comparison of the nervous
system to a computer, the
________central nervous system
__________ makes up the nervous system’s peripheral devices—keyboard, mouse, DVD drive,
and so on. You would not be able to feed information to your computer’s central processing
unit without these peripheral devices. Other peripheral devices, such as your monitor and
printer, allow you to follow what is happening inside your CPU and see what it has done.

The Peripheral Nervous System: The Body’s Peripheral Devices

What are the divisions and functions of the peripheral nervous system?
The _______peripheral nervous system_________ consists of _____sensory____ and
___motor____ neurons that transmit messages to and from the central nervous system.
Without the peripheral nervous system, our brains would be like isolated CPUs. There
would be no keyboards, mouses, CDs, or other ways of_____inputting information______.
There would be no monitors, printers, modems, or other ways of displaying
or_______transmitting__________. We would be detached from the world: We would not be
able to perceive it; we would not be able to act on it. The two main divisions of the
peripheral nervous system are the somatic nervous system and the autonomic nervous
system. The _______somatic nervous system_________ contains sensory (afferent) and motor
(efferent) neurons. It transmits messages about sights, sounds, smells, temperature, body
positions, and so on, to the central nervous system. Messages transmitted from the brain
and spinal cord to the somatic nervous system control purposeful body movements such as
raising a hand, winking, or running, as well as the tiny, almost imperceptible movements
that maintain our balance and posture. Autonomic means “automatic.” The
 _______autonomic nervous system_____________ also has
afferent and efferent neurons and regulates the glands and the
muscles of internal organs. Thus, the ANS controls activities
such as heart-beat, respiration, digestion, and dilation of the
pupils of the eyes. These activities can occur automatically,
while we are asleep. But some of them can be overridden by
conscious control. You can breathe at a purposeful pace, for
example. Methods like biofeedback and yoga also help people
gain voluntary control of functions such as heart rate and
blood pressure. The ANS also has two branches, or divisions:
_______sympathetic________ and _______parasympathetic_______.
These branches have largely opposing effects. Many organs
and glands are stimulated by both branches of the ANS (see
Figure 2.5). When organs and glands are simultaneously
stimulated by both divisions, their effects can average out to
some degree. In general, the _____sympathetic division______
is most active during processes that involve spending body
energy from stored reserves, such as a fight-or-flight response
to a predator or when you find out that your rent is going to
be raised. The ______parasympathetic division_______ is most
active during processes that replenish reserves of energy,
such as eating.
The Central Nervous System: The Body’s Central Processing Unit

What are the divisions and functions of the central nervous

system?
The central nervous system consists of the spinal cord and the
brain. The ____spinal cord____ is a true “information
superhighway”—a column of nerves as thick as a thumb. It
transmits messages from sensory receptors to the brain and
from the brain to muscles and glands throughout the body.
The spinal cord also carries out some “local government.”
That is, it responds to some sources of external stimulation
through spinal reflexes. A ___spinal reflex_____ is an unlearned
response to a stimulus that may require only two neurons—a
sensory neuron and a motor neuron (see Figure 2.6). The
spinal cord and brain contain gray matter and white matter.
___Gray matter_____ consists of nonmyelinated neurons. Some
of these are involved in spinal reflexes. Others send their
axons to the brain. ____White matter______ is composed of
bundles of longer, myelinated (and thus whitish) axons that carry messages to and from the
brain. A cross section of the spinal cord shows that the gray matter, which includes cell
bodies, is distributed in a butterfly pattern
(see Figure 2.6). We have many reflexes. We blink in response to a puff of air in our faces.
We swallow when food accumulates in the mouth. A physician may tap below the knee to
elicit the knee-jerk reflex, a sign that the nervous system is operating adequately. Sexual
response involves many reflexes. Urinating and defecating are reflexes that occur in
response to pressure in the bladder and the rectum.

Text Reference:
Rathus, A. S. (2015). PSYCH. 4 Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning

-Sakeya Leverett