General Anatomy/Nervous System
From Wikibooks, the open-content textbooks collection
The nervous system of higher vertebrates including humans is a widely distributed communication and processing network that serves controlling functions over other organ systems, possesses a key function in the orientation of the individual, controls its behaviour, motor function, sensory processing and contains mechanisms to store information.
A classification of the nervous system can be performed under different aspects, of which the anatomical compartmentalization of its components defines the classical approach. Two major divisions of nervous can be described: the central nervous system (CNS) and the peripheral nervous system (PNS).
Another approach is based in the functional compartmentalization between somatic and autonomic autonomic parts of the nervous system. Both CNS and PNS comprise somatic and autonomic components. The autonomic nervous system consists of sympathetic and parasympathetic systems.
