Jornal de Neurociências e Pesquisa Clínica

Coordination of Nervous System

William Stephen

The Nervous system is an organ system containing a network of specialised cells called neurons that coordinate the actions of an animal and transmit signals between different parts of its body. In most animals the nervous system consists of two parts, central and peripheral. All living organisms are ready to detect changes within themselves and in their environments. Changes within the external environment include those of sunshine, temperature, sound, motion, and odour, while changes within the internal environment include those within the position of the top and limbs also as within the internal organs. This text begins with a discussion of the overall features of nervous systems—that is, their function of responding to stimuli and therefore the rather uniform electrochemical processes by which they generate a response