However, voluntary movement is not the only action occurring in the body. As a result, the somatic nervous system typically targets skeletal muscles. Specifically, these are the responses that the conscious is aware of ( such as lifting your arm to pick up a drink or kicking your legs to perform a dance routine). The somatic nervous system is responsible for regulating and carrying out voluntary responses throughout the body. There are two major functional nervous systems in the body: the somatic nervous system and the autonomic nervous system. Ventilators can be used to extend the heart beating and oxygen circulation following brain stem death, but there is no true cure. True death occurs when cardiopulmonary activity ceases as well. Once the cortical and brain stem projections are both lost however, the organism undergoes “biological death”. During brain stem death, the brain stem fails to function, but there can still be projections present in the cortex. Medically, brain stem death is an “irreversible loss” in regaining consciousness and the ability to breath. The brain stem is extremely vital for survival, where losing the neural connections is highly deadly. Specifically, the brain stem plays key roles in the cardiovascular, respiratory, and digestive systems, as well as in other involuntary functions throughout the body. The brain stem- with all its sub-structures- has many important functions in the autonomic nervous system (which will be described in detail in the next section). These regions are also responsible for containing the origins of several cranial nerves. Each of these regions contain prominent sub-structures and roles that are centralized to each region, as well as overlapping between regions. Instead, it contains three main structures- the midbrain, pons, and medulla oblongata. The brain stem as a whole is not a single structure. The brain stem consists of the midbrain, pons, and medulla oblongata.
Brain stem and additional structures labeled. These neurons are sometimes referred to and broken down as fibers, axons, or nuclei, depending on the part of the neuron being highlighted. Just like all other structures in the brain and nervous system, the brain stem is fully compromised of neurons. The brain stem is a central nervous system region that directly connects the brain to the spinal cord.
While each region has distinct differences and roles in relation to the rest of the body, there are many interconnected pathways and neural connections that can pass through multiple structures. The brain itself is made up of four regions: the cerebrum, cerebellum, diencephalon, and brain stem. The central nervous system includes the brain and spinal cord, while the peripheral nervous system includes all other neurons throughout the body. Neurons make up the entirety of the nervous system, which is broken into two physical sub-systems: the central nervous system and the peripheral nervous system. When one nerve passes the signal to the next nerve, a synapse occurs. This is where electrical signals become chemical in the spaces between two neurons, before becoming electrical again at the next neuron. The neurons pass along these signals to their respective destinations in the brain almost instantly via electrical signaling. The nervous system is made up of individual nerve cells (or neurons), which recognize signals from the body and its environment. These responses can vary- from motor to physiological to storage. It is responsible for relaying sensory information from the body to the brain, where the brain then sends appropriate responses back to the body. The nervous system is a major system spanning the entire body that plays a key role in survival and regulation.