Nueroscience for Dummies by Frank Amthor

Author:Frank Amthor
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
ISBN: 9781119224914
Publisher: Wiley
Published: 2016-05-02T00:00:00+00:00

Although we are all familiar with our senses of sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell, which tell us about the world around us, we also have less known senses that tell us about the world inside us. These senses detect and regulate things like our body temperature, heart rate, thirst, hunger, and wakefulness. Many of these internally regulated functions are part of what is called homeostasis, the active maintenance of various aspects of the internal state of our bodies.

The homeostatic functions of the nervous system came before all the higher cognitive abilities that were enabled by the brain. Even invertebrates, like mollusks, worms, and insects, have nervous systems that regulate metabolic processes like digestion. These homeostatic functions are necessary for the cells in the body to live. Even minor dysfunction in these regulatory mechanisms can quickly compromise health, and if any of them fail, death usually follows quickly.

Most of these functions are mediated by the autonomic nervous system, which in vertebrates is distinct from the central or peripheral nervous systems. This chapter examines how the autonomic nervous system works, including its involvement in the regulation of sleep, a highly necessary but poorly understood homeostatic function.

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