Definition of Peripheral Nervous System

The nervous system is divided into two large parts, the Central Nervous System which includes the brain, brainstem, cerebellum, and spinal cord, as well as the peripheral nervous system It is made up of the nerve roots that start or reach the spinal cord, also known as peripheral nerves.

There are two types of peripheral nerves, these are the cranial nerves that are 12 pairs of nerves that are distributed in the head and neck with the exception of the vagus nerve that descends to the central part of the thorax or mediastinum, in the lower segments find the spinal nerves, which originate in the spinal cord and emerge in pairs on either side of the spinal vertebrae vertebral.

Transmission of information between the body and the nervous system

The spinal nerves transmit information to the brain from all parts of the body, these signals originate in structures known as nociceptors. In the same way, they carry information from the brain and higher nervous centers to both the muscles and the different organs and systems.

The information that is carried to the muscles of the skeletal type allows them to be controlled voluntarily, while the information that goes to the different organs, viscera and even the smooth and cardiac muscle cannot be controlled voluntarily, therefore the nerves related to this function are known as the system highly strung autonomous.

The routes of the peripheral nerves consist of bulging areas known as nerve ganglia, they are areas of relay of the information of a neuron to another so they play an important role in the process of transmission of nerve impulses.

Sensitivity and motor control

One of the main functions of the nervous system is to transmit the information that allows to have sensitivity and to be able to execute the movements.

Sensitivity is a quality that allows information to be taken from the external world and from the organism itself, this is achieved by activating a series of receptors that transmit information about phenomena such as pressure, the touch, the temperature and the stimulus painful, at a deep level there are structures that all the time transmit information to the brain that allows it to know at a given moment where it is located a certain body part or segment in space (proprioception) as well as the degree of contraction of the muscles that allows maintaining muscle tone and achieving the Balance.

Motor skills is the ability to carry out the movement, the voluntary movements that are carried out with the muscles occur as a consequence of nerve impulses that originate in the motor neurons, while the movements of the viscera and organs regulated by the autonomic nervous system are the product of the activation of nuclei located in the stem cerebral.