Nervous System: Organization and Functions (Nursing)

00:01 Greetings. In this lecture, we will be discussing the nervous system.

00:06 First, let's look at the layout of the nervous system.

00:11 The nervous system has two main parts: the central nervous system which consist of the brain and the spinal chord, and then the peripheral nervous system which consist of all of the nerves that radiate from the structures in the central nervous system.

00:27 The nervous system is organized so that the central nervous system is going to receive sensory information as well as deliver motor output information.

00:39 It receives and delivers to and from the peripheral nervous system.

00:45 The peripheral nervous system is in further subdivided into the somatic nervous system which is going to receive or send information to the skeletal muscles and the autonomic nervous system which is going to send and receive information from our visceral organs.

01:06 The autonomic nervous system can then be further subdivided into the sympathetic nervous system which is our fight or flight response, the parasympathetic nervous system which is our rest and digest system, and then finally, our GI tract has its own nervous system referred to as the enteric nervous system.

01:32 So what is the function of the nervous system? The nervous system has a sensory function where we're going to sense changes through sensory receptors, a motor function where we are then going to respond to a stimulus, and most importantly, an integrative function where we're going to analyze the information that comes in, store some of it, and then also use or make decisions regarding appropriate behaviors to respond to a stimuli.

02:06 So for example, if you get a phone call, you have to -- the sensory is going to be receiving or hearing the phone ringing and then you must integrate and decide what you're gonna do.

02:19 Are you gonna answer the phone or are you gonna ignore the call? From there, the motor output would decide if you pick up the phone or if you turn the phone over and act like nothing's happening.