Neuroscience (CAJ) an introduction

Have you ever wondered whether you (should) feel or make decisions with your heart or your brain? A neuroscientist would probably argue it is the latter that is crucial for a human being.

But what is neuroscience? In a nutshell, it is the study of our nervous system. And our nervous system is divided in the central nervous system (CNS), consisting of the brain and the spinal cord, and the peripheral nervous system (PNS), consisting of nerves. Our nervous system is made up of billions of neurons, which are the transmitters that enable us to feel, think, learn and do almost everything we do. There are multiple types of neurons, however, they all consist of a cell body (or soma), dendrites, the axon which is protected by the myelin sheath and synopses or axon terminals.

Neurons transmit signals whenever there is some kind of sensory input. The dendrites' task is to receive the electrical signal, or action potential, and the axon passes it on to the next neuron through axon terminals. In fact, these axon terminals do not touch the next neurons' dendrite directly. So there is a little gap in-between. But if there is an empty space how is the signal passed further on?

Within each axon terminal there are vesicles (little bags) that contain neurotransmitters, acting like a chemical messenger that diffuses from the neuron across a junction to the next neuron in order to stimulate it.

This is just a summery of how transmission of signals approximately works in our nervous system. I am sure, everybody has at some point heard about it in school, depending how intensive your grade of interest for the functions of the human body at that moment was. And I assume, as you were in puberty, your interest was well-trained although not the way it was supposed to be. Speaking of which, neurotransmitters and hormones also play a major role this.

As we know now, our nervous system is responsible for everything we perceive. In other words, everything you sense, think and feel is the result of how our nervous system works. You can be sure there is something incredible going on in your body when you, for example, taste the best piece of cake on earth, or have an interesting conversation, or when you are studying, listening to music, feeling depressed or completely over the top.

As our brain does all these things, the study of neuroscience has spread its wings to many other disciplines, such as medicine, linguistics, psychology, engineering and many more. In my further blog posts, I am going to give insight into several fascinating studies, new technologies and developments or just some delightful facts.