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Sunday, 30 March 2014

Taking Out Central Nervous Systems Would Be a No Brainer


Whenever anything happens in day to day life from writing a test to picking up a doughnut your central nervous system/senses were responsible. 

How Do the Sensory System and Central Nervous System Connect and Interact? 

These systems bridge with the sensory receptors and neurons. The senses they spur and the reaction that is understood and derives from segments of the brain or the spinal chord. The central nervous system is able to sense surroundings, transfer information through the brain, spinal chord and the rest of the body, controls voluntary movement and maintains movement that is involuntary aka homeostasis

Common sensory systems consist of the following:
  • Vision
  • Somatic Sensation (touch)
  • Auditory (hearing)
  • Taste 
  • Olfaction (smell)
Sensory organs include eyes, skin, ears, papillae (taste buds) and the nose. These organs have sensory receptor cells that are able to transfer information to either the brain or spine in order to formulate reactions. Neurons are cells but they have a peculiar shape consisting of hairy axom bits on the top and tail like dendrites. If one were to place their hand on a hot surface instantly nerves (a collection of neurons) would send information to the spinal chord like a telephone call and the spinal chord would send information the opposite direction to signal to the muscles to move the hand. 

There are different types of nerves in the body that connect to different places:

  • Cranial nerves (connect sensory organs to the brain)
  • Central nerves (connect areas within the brain and spinal cord)
  • Peripheral nerves (connect the spinal cord with limbs)
  • Autonomic nerves (connect the brain and spinal cord with your organs) 

The brain is the President and the spine is the Vice President, if the Vice President can handle what is happening then the President does not get involved. For example when the doctor taps a knee, receptors in the knee send a signal to the spinal chord via a sensory neuron. The sensory neuron signals the central nervous system (in this case spine) which signals the motor neuron which then stimulates the correct leg so that it kicks. The brain did not need to get involved as this was a reflex of which the spinal chord and neurons had under control.




Major Organs:
Brain: Averagely the human brain weighs 3 pounds and is comprised of fats and proteins, giving it a feel similar to jelly and is one of the largest organs in the human body.The over 100 billion neurons in the brain are responsible for developing, analyzing and creating new ideas and actions as well as unconsciously regulating body processes such as the digestive system or respiratory system. 85% of the brain's weight is taken up by the cerebrum of which has an outer surface that is the cerebral cortex. The cerebral cortex is all grey matter (neurons) while the cerebrum underneath the cerebral cortex is comprised of white matter (nerve fibres; aka axoms and dendrites.
The cerebrum has two hemispheres which have four lobes. The frontal lobes control are involved with speech, thought, learning, emotion, and movement while the parietal lobes are responsible for processing sensory information such as pain, temperature and smell. The second biggest section of the brain is the cerebellum which is responsible for regulating muscle movement and balance. There is both white and grey matter in the cerebellum of which information is transferred to the spinal chord and other parts of the brain. The diencephalon is at brain's core and is about the size of an apricot. The diencephalon is responsible for sending nerve impulses to other parts of the brain for understanding and hormone secretion.The brain stem regulates reflexes and life functions that are not consciously thought about such as breathing and blood circulation.    

Spine: The spinal chord is protected by the spinal column which is made out of bony vertebrae and measures between 43-45 cm. 
There are 31 vertebrae that make up the spinal column: 8 cervical, 12 thoracic, 5 lumbar, 5 sacral and 1 coccygeal. Exiting each spinal column segment are a collection of neurons as well that along with the body's other neurons meet in the dorsal root. From there either a reflex occurs or the neurons are sent up again further to the brain. 

Friday, 28 March 2014

A Pessimist's Blood Type is Always B-Negative



By ensuring disease fighting measures and stable homoeostasis the circulatory is absolutely necessary but why and how? 

The multiple litres of blood are comprised of platelets, red blood cells, plasma and white blood cells. As well lymph runs through the circulatory system, it assists in cleaning unwanted materials from the body.
The circulatory system
is an umbrella system
to three body systems
that work together.

The circulatory system itself is an umbrella of sorts for the cardiovascular (heart), pulmonary (lungs), and systemic (arteries, veins, coronary and portal vessels). 

The cardiovascular system is at the heart of the circulatory system (haha get it the heart because it is the heart) as it pumps blood throughout the entire body. Arteries transfer oxygen full blood away from the heart to the rest of the body and ensure stationary cells receive the oxygen and nutrition they require. 

The aorta is the largest artery from the heart and goes through the neck (after receiving oxygen from the lungs: pulmonary flow) and branches out through the body into smaller arteries and then into very small arterial and then to capillaries where the newly oxygenated red blood cells provide oxygen to the cells. The body's stationary cells accept oxygen and various nutrients from passing red blood cells when the oxygen and nutrients diffuse from the plasma surrounding the red blood cells to the interstitial fluid surrounding stationary cells throughout the body.

Once the cells receive the nutrient or oxygen they require the waste (including carbon dioxide) is dumped into venules that go backwards and end up going to the Inferior Venae Cavae (Bottom section of the body) or Superior Venae Cavae (Head, arms)that converge and bring all the blood back to the heart. From the two Venae Cavae the blood goes into the ventricles of the heart where the blood get re-oxygenated by the capillaries that go to the alveoli in the lungs. This is called the pulmonary system. The capillaries bring in the groceries (oxygen) and throw out the trash (carbon dioxide).

 
Major Organ:

Heart: The heart's walls are made of muscle that is able to pump blood from the left ventricle out of the aorta when the heart beats (muscle contracts). The heart has two atriums, left and right where the blood enters the heart from the lungs (left atrium) or from the Venae Cavae (right atrium) The heart's ventricles are kind of storage spaces where the blood stays in between heart beats when it is pumped out of either the pullmnory artery (right side, re-oxygenation) or the aorta (left side, oxygenated blood throughout the body). The heart itself has its own set of arteries and veins called the coronary system and eventually the blood from this system feeds into the right and left ventricle as well. 

Thursday, 13 March 2014

Some People Really Enjoy Blowing Air Out of Their Lungs - I'm Not a Fan Myself

How does the respiratory system work?

The exchange of gases that occurs when we exhale and inhale (carbon dioxide out, oxygen in) is how blood cells are able to acquire oxygen and then to pass it on throughout the body. The system in which this takes place is known as the Respiratory System.

When oxygen is inhaled through the mouth and/or nose the oxygen begins its initial journey through the respiratory system. The diaphragm is a muscle near the bottom of the chest cavity that allows inhalation and exhalation to occur, it separates the thoracic and abdominal cavities. When air is inhaled the diaphragm contracts and lets more air in while in exhalation the diaphragm expands and air is let out. First stop for the oxygen is the larynx, where speech is produced followed by the the trachea from which oxygen enters the chest cavity. The trachea divides into two tubes called the bronchi (singular bronchus), the bronchi split into even smaller tubes on the way to the lungs, aka the bronchial tubes. Bronchial tubes directly go into the lungs and are yet again split into even smaller tubes which conjoin with tiny little air sacks known as alveoli.

This is where the respiratory and circulatory systems are bridged because the alveoli (filled with oxygen that was inhaled) are attached to the capillaries. The capillaries are extremely minute blood vessels next to the alveoli where oxygen diffuses out of the alveoli into the blood cells in the capillaries. The carbon dioxide in the bloodstream goes the other way. Carbon dioxide diffuses from the bloodstream into the alveoli and through the lungs and come out while exhaling. 

Without the respiratory system we wouldn't be able to live because breathing is of course an essential life function.

Major organs 
Larynx: Without the larynx talking would be impossible. As well, the larynx aids swallowing and breathing. When air is inhaled exhaled it goes past the larynx which holds the vocal chords. The larynx is called the voice box because that's what it is, a box of cartilages and tissue holding the vocal chords.When the air goes past the vocal chords during exhalation they receive sufficient air in order to tighten or loosen in order to change pitch, volume and tone. A majority of the larynx is made up of cartilages and muscles that are held together by bendable, elastic like tissue. The larynx is a component of the corridor of air to and from the lungs.

Trachea: Also known as the windpipe, the trachea trails down the front, centre of the neck and at the top edge of the sternum (breast bone)splits into two branches that feed into the lung cavities. Composed of fibrous, elastic tissues,smooth tissue and approximately twenty cartilage rings the trachea is quite flexible to allow quite extreme neck movement while allowing air through to the lungs. The trachea is similar to a vacuum hose as it is extremely flexible but still sturdy and does not collapse on itself. About twenty rings of cartilage keep the trachea open in order to ensure breathing is always happening even during extreme neck movements.

Lungs: Spongy, similar to hot air balloons these organs aka lungs make all breathing and living possible. When air is inhaled it goes into the lungs through the trachea to the bronchi and then into the lungs themselves. Within the lungs the bronchi eventually split into even smaller branches of bronchioles. Bronchioles are wires that connect alveoli (microscopic air sacks) to each other throughout the lungs where oxygen is diffused into the blood stream through capillaries.


Diaphragm: Controlling the inhalation and exhalation of air is the dome shaped sheet of muscle that is the diaphragm. When the body requires air (inhalation)the diaphragm caves in allowing more space for air to be transferred into the lungs. When exhalation occurs the diaphragm curves upwards in order to decrease the amount of space in the chest cavity and therefore air leaves the lungs.