The Nervous System

Your nervous system is your body's communication network. It sends and receives signals at remarkable speed to control every movement, sensation, thought, and reflex. It has two main parts: the central nervous system, made up of the brain and spinal cord, and the peripheral nervous system, which is all the nerves branching out to the rest of your body.

Think of the brain as the head office and the spinal cord as the main motorway running down your back. Nerves are the roads that branch off this motorway to reach your fingers, toes and everywhere in between, carrying messages in both directions all the time.

The basic building block of the nervous system is the neurone, a special cell shaped for sending signals. Each neurone has a cell body, branching arms called dendrites that receive messages, and a long thread called an axon that carries the message onwards to the next cell.