From time to time, we shares several facts of nervous system trivia on our social media channels. We thought we’d compile a few of the facts here, facts that most people don’t know.
(Check us out on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, YouTube, and Pinterest.)
Without further ado, here are 12 nervous system trivia to impress your friends:
- Our organs are controlled by collections of neural cells called ganglia, which act like mini brains.
- The autonomic nervous system has 2 divisions: sympathetic (arouses body for action) and parasympathetic (calms body down).
- Your body below your head and neck is controlled by 30 spinal nerves.
- There are 12 pairs of nerves that control the head and neck.
- Parkinson’s and Tourette’s are both disorders of the basal ganglia because they make it difficult to control movement.
- The cortex has 6 layers: 1–3 are integrative, 4 receives info from senses, and 5–6 send info to the rest of the brain.
- Neurons are made of 3 parts: dendrites (receive information), soma (process information), and axons (send information).
- The cortex makes up 80% of the human brain and is the region that has expanded the most throughout human evolution.
- The cortex is made up of 2 parts: the neocortex creates our perceptual world and the limbic cortex controls motivational states.
- The limbic system of the forebrain controls emotion, as well as behaviours that create and require memory.
- The neocortex (cerebral cortex) processes the most complex information the brain receives, including perception and planning.
- Sometimes your spinal cord acts independent of the brain.
What is your favourite piece of nervous system trivia that we missed? Let us know in the comments below.
All facts and trivia above are taken from An Introduction to Brain and Behaviour (3rd edition) by neuroscientists Dr. Bryan Kolb and Dr. Ian Q. Winshaw.