The Importance of the Human Nervous System. The NS is possibly one of the most important systems in the evolution of multi-cellular organisms allowing cells, tissues, organs and even organisms to communicate and regulate both their internal and external e

This essay hasn't yet been marked by one of our teachers

You can view 3 essays on Applied Biology that have been Marked by Teachers

The first 200 words of this essay...

The Importance of the Human Nervous System

Human's ability to survive in often stressful and varying environments directly reflects their ability to maintain a stable internal environment. (1) Human homeostasis refers to the body's ability to physiologically regulate its inner environment to ensure its stability in response to fluctuations in the outside environment. (2) The nervous system (NS) and the endocrine system share responsibility for maintaining homeostasis, their objective is to communicate, control and co-ordinate body activities. (3) The NS regulates this by instantaneous, short-lived and localised response based on electrical impulses as apposed to the endocrine system which responds slowly with long-term processes such as growth and maturation by releasing hormones. (4) Besides maintaining homeostasis, the NS is also responsible for the seat of language, emotion and memory along with voluntary and involuntary movements making it one of the most complex and important systems in the human body. (4) (1)

Topographically the NS can be divided into two main subdivisions, the central nervous system (CNS) and the peripheral nervous system (PNS). (4) The CNS is a massive collection of nerve cells called tracts which are connected in an intricate fashion to sub-serve the higher order functions such