Question

Describe how the nervous system helps different parts of your body communicate with one another the moment you begin to pet a dog.

Answer 1

When you pet a dog, touch receptors in the palm of your hands are stimulated. They send signals along afferent pathways, through the dorsal root to the CNS. A decision to either continue petting the animal or to stop is made in higher decision making areas of the CNS. The decision is sent along descending efferent pathays that pass through the ventral root and along motor fibres back to your hand. If the decision is to stop, then you stop and move your hands away; if the decision is to continue, then you continue.