Brain: The Interpreter of Consciousness & Controller of the Nervous System - Essay Sample

Introduction

The brain acts as the control center of the nervous system in the human body where it identifies and interprets the signals from different parts of the body and gives out a corresponding outcome signals that dictate the course of action involved in the body (Banerjee et al., 2016). The human brain is considered the main interpreter of consciousness. Disorders of the brain are associated with the kind of mental confusion where the normal behavior of a person is affected. The coordination of the brain process is depended on the transmission of impulses through the components of the nervous system to help in the generation of the intended responses. Neurotransmitters are used to carry coded information along the length of the axon to get to the synapse, which joins a neuron to the receptor site. It is from the synapse that the receptor sites get a signal, which indicates the type of response to be involved. The paper will discuss the several complications of the nervous system and the associated signaling process, which results in several behavioral disorders.

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There exist determinants of behaviors possessed by human beings to include both their feelings and thoughts they involve from time to time. The observed behavior occurs as a result of the actions one the various structures of the nervous systems such as the nerves and the various parts of the human brain. The nervous system acts as the highway that is used by the brain in controlling the different body signals that are generated from time to time (Andreae & Burrone, 2018). It is composed of a high number of interconnected cells where most of these cells have specialized functions that constitute the functioning of the human brain.

The central nervous system comprises the brain and the entire spinal cord. In contrast, the peripheral nervous system is made up of a high number of neurons that are used to connect the central nervous system to other organs such as the skin, glands, and the various muscles of the body. It is also essential to consider that human behavior is also influenced by the output of the endocrine system, which comprises a variety of chemical regulators, which are hormones produced by the glands following a successful stimulation. The nervous system allows for a swift flow of orders from both the brain and the spinal cord to the specified parts of the body, such as glands and muscles.

Neuroanatomy in Brain Process

A neuron serves as the basic structure of the complex nature of the nervous system. The nervous system comprises billions of neurons whose functions are primarily to receive and the subsequent transmission of information in the form of signals. Neurons are comprised of three significant parts, the first being cell body, or soma, which contains the core of the cell and keeps the cell alive.the second is a branching and treelike fiber commonly termed as the dendrite, which serves to obtain data from different cells and sends the data to the soma. The third and the last part is sectioned fiber referred to as the axon, which relays data from the cell body toward different neurons or to the various muscles and organs. A few neurons have hundreds or even a slightly increased number of dendrites, and these dendrites where they may be extended to permit the cell to get data from a large number of different cells (Dolphin & Lee 2020). The axons are specific in the manner they function, and a few, for example, those that send messages from the spinal string to the muscles located in in the hands or feet, might be exceptionally extensive, such that some of the measures even up to a few feet in terms of length. To improve the process of the transmission and to shield their electrical impulses from possible leakage, axons are naturally covered and surrounded by a myelin sheath. The myelin sheath is a layer of greasy tissue encompassing the axon of a neuron such that the two permits a quicker transmission of the electrical impulses. Axons tend to branch out toward their endings, and a terminal button is located at the end of every branch, which is used in establishing junctions between two neurons.

Communication Process of Neurons

The sensory system works by utilizing electrochemical changes, which are initiated when electrical impulses are conducted along the length of the axon, where substances of the nervous system are used during the transmission of data between interlinked neurons. In the inner side of a neuron, when an impulse finally gets to the dendrites, it is transmitted to the soma region in the form of electrical impulses and in cases where if the impulse is sufficient, it is directly relayed to the axon and after which it gets to the terminal buttons (Rehfeld at al., 2017). Once the impulse arrives at the terminal buttons, they are made to transmit synthetic compounds known as neurotransmitters, which work together with number neurons through synapses, which is the space that separates two neurons.

The electrical sign travels along the entire length of the neuron due to the various changes that are experienced due to different electrical impulses in the inside and outside of the neuron. Ordinarily, the axon is always maintained at resting potential, and the inner component contains a lot of the neurons that are negatively charged particles, which is opposite to the charge contained in the outer side of the axon. Once an electrical signal from the dendrites activates the section of the axon placed near the cell body, and that the electrical impulses are sufficient, it ends up passing a specific level, the cell membrane allows for the entry of charged sodium ions that were not able to enter without the stimulation. The variation in electrical impulses occurs within a given when a nerve impulse is relayed the action potential of the axon. When the action potential happens, the number of ions that positively charged is more than the number of negative particles present; the section automatically assumes a positive charge.

The electrical charge gets down the axon from one part to another in the form of little bounces and from one node to the other. After the action potential happens in the first part of the axon, it rapidly makes an equal impact in the next section, and the process is continued to other sections Prior segments end up closing as the positive charges are carried along the axon, where the segments assume a negative charge after closing (Kwon et al., 2017). It is through such a process that action potential is carried up to the terminal buttons.

Neurotransmitter System

The neural signals are transmitted through the means of electrical charges inside the neuron, but the junctions of the neurons make use of chemical transmission. Neurons are partitioned using by intersection regions synapses, which are regions that are located at the end axons. Still, the neurons do not touch each other in these regions and are only connected using dendrites. The synapses give an exceptional capacity since they permit every axon to communicate with numerous dendrites in adjacent cells. Since a neuron may have synaptic associations with different neurons, the connection that is available in the nervous system creates a sophisticated platform that allows for efficient communication.

Once when the signal from the action potential arrives at the terminal of an axon, it alerts the terminal buttons to discharge neurotransmitters, which get to the synapse. Neurotransmitters are chemical substances that are used to carry signals from the terminal ends through the synapse to reach the other end of a second neuron (Micu et al., 2018). Neurons traverse the synaptic space between the terminal button of one neuron and the dendrites of different neurons, where they tie to the dendrites in the neighboring neurons. Moreover, a variety of terminal buttons discharge various neurotransmitters, and various dendrites are uniquely specific to some kind of dendrites. The dendrites will only allow a neurotransmitter to attach only in cases where the neurotransmitter is determined to be of the correct shape. It is for this reason that neurotransmitters and the receptor sites are considered to have a lock and key compatibility.

Once the receptors on the accepting neurons acknowledge the neurotransmitters, their impact might be either excitatory to make the cell-bound to be inhibitory, making the cell less inclined to fire. Moreover, if the accepting neuron acknowledges more than one neurotransmitter, it is possible to generate either the excitatory and inhibitory impacts on each other (Foss et al., 2017). If it then happens that the excitatory impacts of the neurotransmitters are more pronounced than the inhibitory impacts of the same neurotransmitters, the neuron draws nearer to its firing threshold. Once the threshold is attained, the action potential and the transfer of the contained information within the neuron commences.

Neurotransmitters that are not acknowledged by the accepting sites must be expelled from the neurotransmitter to allow for a subsequent potential incitement of the neuron to occur. This procedure happens to a limited extent through the separation of the neurotransmitter by enzymes, which are called inactivation, and partially through the reuptake process, a procedure wherein neurotransmitters that remain behind in the synapse are taken back by the transmitting terminal buttons and prepared for another discharge once the neuron fires.

Over one hundred chemicals, substances that are discharged by the body have since been identified to be neurotransmitters. They have considerable effects on the behavioral attributes, cognition mechanism, and emotional responses of a person. Neurotransmitters control our craving, memorization process, personal feeling, and the muscle activity to include their development processes. Dopamine is associated with changes in both emotions of a person and the related motivation. It is associated with conditions such as schizophrenia. Serotonin is associated with mood changes, sleep mechanisms, and aggression levels in human beings. Acetylcholine is associated with memorized and the development of Alzheimer's disease (Gobinat et al., 2017). It is important to understand that endorphins and neurotransmitters are produced in high numbers during strenuous exercise, and they provide the body with the natural ability to overcome pain.

Few chemicals in the body can act as either as neurotransmitters. In contrast, others act as hormones, which are substances in the circulation system that influence the behavioral attributes of a person. Norepinephrine is an example of a substance with double impacts on the human body. When functioning as a neurotransmitter, norepinephrine is responsible for arousal mechanisms and has essential roles in learning and memorization. Norepinephrine, a chemical substance that is produced by the sympathetic nervous system, is associated with biological changes that are attached to both fear and anxiety (Dolphin & Lee, 2020). Norepinephrine acts as both a hormone and transmitter in the human body and has a vital role in the flight-fight responses that result in an increased level of blood glucose elevate heart rate and increased flow of blood into the muscles.

Behavioral Disorders of the Brain Process

Psychotic disorders are some complications developed by the human brain, which results in altered behavior of a person. Schizophrenia is an example of psychotic disorder characterized by disturbances in the thinking abilities of a person, cases of hallucinations, altered speech, uncontrollable emotions, and abnormal behaviors of a person. It is one of the mental conditions that are known to affect a large number of people in the world. The manifestations of schizophrenia are put into two cl...