Nervous System Chart – Central Nervous System & Peripheral Nervous System

Nervous System Chart:

Understanding the Nervous System Chart (and Why It Matters)

When you break it down, the nervous system is like your body’s command center. It controls how you think, feel, move, and respond. Every thought, reaction, or even sense of calm (or panic) starts here.

Let’s walk through the major sections of the nervous system chart, as shown above, to understand the importance regulating the nervous system.

1. Central Nervous System (CNS)

This includes your brain and spinal cord, the control hub for everything your body does. It interprets information from the outside world and sends instructions to the rest of your body.

Key parts of the CNS:

• Brain:
  • Cerebrum: Thought, emotion, memory
  • Cerebellum: Coordination and balance
  • Brain stem: Breathing, heart rate, alertness
  • Diencephalon: Hormone release and sensory relay
• Spinal Cord:
  • A communication highway between brain and body
  • Contains white matter (signal transmission) and gray matter (processing)

2. Peripheral Nervous System (PNS)

The PNS branches off from the CNS and carries out its orders. It’s like the delivery system between your brain and body parts.

It’s divided into:

• Somatic Nervous System: Controls voluntary movements (like walking or picking up a cup)
• Autonomic Nervous System: Controls automatic functions (like heartbeat or digestion)

The autonomic system has three branches:

• Sympathetic: Fight-or-flight
• Parasympathetic: Rest-and-digest
• Enteric: Regulates digestion independently of the brain

3. Neuron Types

Your nervous system communicates using neurons, the cells that send signals.

• Afferent (Sensory) Neurons: Carry info from body to brain
• Efferent (Motor) Neurons: Carry instructions from brain to body
• Interneurons: Act as messengers within the brain and spinal cord

These signals zip around your body thanks to axon terminals, dendrites, and the cell body of each neuron.

4. Supporting Elements

• Protective Structures: Like cerebrospinal fluid and meninges, which shield your brain and spinal cord
• Supporting Cells: Such as neuroglia that nourish and protect neurons

So Why Does This for Kanna?

Kanna (Sceletium tortuosum) works by influencing the central nervous system, especially the serotonin system in your brain. Many people take kanna to regulate their mood, calm their nerves, or feel more connected—and all of that ties back to how well your nervous system is functioning.

Further reading: What is Kanna?

Specifically:

• Kanna supports serotonin signaling, which helps modulate mood, anxiety, and social behavior.
• It may promote VMAT-2 upregulation, which improves neurotransmitter balance.
• It interacts gently with your autonomic nervous system, potentially reducing sympathetic overdrive (fight-or-flight) and encouraging a rest-and-digest state.

Understanding your nervous system helps you understand why kanna can be such a powerful plant for emotional balance and nervous system regulation.

Further reading: My first week trying kanna