Cns.com Reviews

What is the CNS?

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The brain and spinal cord make up the central nervous system (CNS). The CNS is the body's command center. It controls the 5 senses and movements such as walking.

What is the CNS?

The CNS consists of the brain and spinal cord. It's one part of the nervous system that helps all parts of the body communicate with each other and react to changes outside and inside the body.

The brain has different areas that have specialized functions. For example, the temporal lobe is important for processing sensory input and assigning it emotional meaning. It's also involved in laying down long-term memories and aspects of language processing.

Neurons are the building blocks of the nervous system. They receive signals through a short antenna-like part called the dendrite and send signals to other neurons through a long cable-like part called the axon. Some neurons have a layer of fat, called myelin, that acts as an insulator to help speed up the transmission of nerve impulses.

CNS Anatomy

During embryonic development, the CNS appears as a simple tube (the neural tube), extending down from the dorsal median plane of the body. It is composed of two major types of tissue: grey matter and white matter. The grey matter consists of neuron cell bodies and their dendrites, and glial cells. Glial cells are specialized non-neuronal cells that provide a supporting framework for neurons and carry out some of the basic functions of the nervous system. Neurons have a soma, or cell body, and extensions that emerge from it and branch outward in various directions; each of these branches is called a process. Neurons with two processes are called bipolar, and those with one process are called unipolar. Bipolar neurons send signals for sensory processing and motor control.

CNS Tracts

A bundle of axons that connects different nuclei within the central nervous system is called a tract. Tracts can be further categorized as association tracts, commissural tracts and projection tracts.

Ascending tracts convey information from spinal ganglia or higher regions of the brain down to lower areas like the medulla oblongata and pons. This information can be used to control movement in a conscious, voluntary way.

Some ascending tracts converge to form a dense sheet of white matter known as the internal capsule between the thalamus and basal ganglia. This can be used to communicate between the two hemispheres. Other ascending tracts synapse on neurons in the lateral spinothalamic tract, which sends nerve signals down the spinal cord and into various skeletal muscles to allow for movement.

CNS Functions

The CNS takes signals from different body systems and creates coordinated responses. It also governs thought, sensation and movement and controls basic emotions and functions like metabolism, homeostasis and sleep.

Neurons communicate with each other through chemical impulses called action potentials that travel along axons, passing information across synapses at the ends of these cells. At the synapse, the axon releases neurotransmitters that bind to receptors on effector neurons and trigger biochemical events within those cells, causing them to respond.

Glial cells, which are non-excitatory and do not propagate action potentials, provide structural support and protection for neurons throughout the central nervous system. They also myelinate neurons, maintain homeostatic balance and provide nutrition to the brain and spinal cord through three membranous coverings known as pia mater, arachnoid mater and dura mater.

CNS Diseases

Diseases of the CNS are major health problems all over the world. They are difficult to treat because active drug molecules cannot easily reach the brain and spinal cord through blood-brain and blood-cerebrospinal fluid barriers.

Demyelinating diseases are hereditary conditions that cause your immune system to mistakenly attack myelin, a protective coating on nerve cells in the CNS. These diseases include multiple sclerosis and ALS.

Personalized medicine (PM) capitalizes on the fact that genetic variability in patients leads to differences in disease susceptibility and response to medicines. It also offers new approaches for diagnostics and therapy including the use of biomarkers, pharmacogenomics, and companion diagnostics. Regulatory endorsement of these tools can facilitate the path to innovative therapies for CNS disorders. This chapter highlights the regulatory paths for advancing these biomarkers in CNS diseases.