Neuroanatomy, Central Nervous System (CNS)

Abstract

The nervous system is a complex network that enables an organism to interact with its surroundings. Sensory components that detect environmental stimuli, and motor components that provide skeletal, cardiac, and smooth muscle control, as well as control of glandular secretions, are coordinated in a system to compel appropriate motor responses to the stimuli or sensory inputs that have been received, stored, and processed.The nervous system is made up of vast neural networks; signaling within these circuits enables thinking, language, feeling, learning, memory, and all function and sensation. It is well-established that through the plasticity of existing cells our nervous systems can adapt to situations not previously encountered, but it also has been shown that neural stem cells (NSCs) are plastic and involved in creating new connections in adaptation and response to injury. NSCs play a fundamental role in development, and in the ability to respond to stimuli in the environment and injury.