Nervous system facts for kids

Illustration of how pain travels to the brain, from René Descartes's Treatise of Man

The nervous system is a body system which sends signals around the body. It lets animals respond to what is around them. The central nervous system is the brain, the spinal cord, and nerves. It is present in almost all animals. It is there to process the input from the senses, and to to coordinate movement.

The nervous system is made up of neurons. Other cells, such as glial cells keep the neurons safe and healthy.

The structure of the system includes the brain and spinal cord, which together are called the central nervous system. The brain has billions of nerve cells to help think, walk, and breathe. The nervous system can react in 1/100 of a second to a stimulus, like a pain signal.

The system of nerves in your body that sends messages for controlling movement and feeling between the brain and the other parts of the body anatomy of nervous systems can be sub-divided as follows:

• Central nervous system
  • Brain
  • Spinal cord
• Peripheral nervous system
  • Autonomic nervous system
    • Sympathetic nervous system
    • Parasympathetic nervous system
  • Somatic nervous system

Images for kids

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  Earthworm nervous system. Top: side view of the front of the worm. Bottom: nervous system in isolation, viewed from above

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  Major elements in synaptic transmission. An electrochemical wave called an action potential travels along the axon of a neuron. When the wave reaches a synapse, it provokes release of a small amount of neurotransmitter molecules, which bind to chemical receptor molecules in the membrane of the target cell.

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  Layers protecting the brain and spinal cord.

See also

In Spanish: Sistema nervioso para niños