ALL SOURCES MUST BE FROM WITHIN THE PAST 5 YEARS!!!
Research on the nervous system is controversial. In this assignment, you will explore
nervous system research and the controversies surrounding it.
Write a paper that summarizes the current research on the nervous system and the
controversies surrounding this research. Include the following in your paper: 1)A brief
review of the current empirical research regarding the construction of the nervous system
and its role in shaping behavior. 2) A discussion of the controversies surrounding research
on the nervous system.
30% – Review of the Historical and Current Empirical Research Regarding the
Construction of the Nervous System and Its Role in Shaping Behavior Benchmarks C1.1:
Discuss the development of key psychological theories.
35% – A discussion of the controversies surrounding research on the nervous system is
present, thorough, and well-detailed. The statement is well supported with current and/or
seminal research.
Controversy of the Nervous System
The nervous system is a component of a human body that directs its behavior and
conveys signals between distinct body regions. In vertebrates it comprises of two major
components, called the central nervous system (CNS) and the peripheral nervous system (PNS).
The central nervous system includes the brain and spinal cord whilst the peripheral nervous
system comprises majorly of nerves that are long fibers that link the central nervous system to
each part of the body, but as well consists of other parts such as peripheral ganglia, sympathetic
and parasympathetic ganglia. Nerve cells have unique aspects that permit them to send signals
fast and correctly to other cells. Junctions between neurons comprise neutral tracks that can
produce very structural and metabolic reinforcement. Together with neurons, the nervous system
as well includes other particular celled known as glial cells, which offer structural and metabolic
reinforcement. Contemporary research claims that glial could as well have considerable signaling
function. Nervous systems are established virtually all multicellular beings but differs very
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CONTROVERSY OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM
muchin sophistication. At the essential stage, the role of the nervous system is designated to
regulate movement of the organism and to impact environment. This is accomplished by
transmitting signals from one cell to others (Hobert, 2005).
The nerves in the somatic system link the brain and spinal cord with voluntary muscles of
the body. This system senses and responds to the external atmosphere. It comprises of both
sensory and motor neurons (Hobert, 2005). Sensory nerve cells convey incoming signals to the
CNS. These signals come from the receptor cells, and are situated in the sense organs such as
eyes and years. Motor neurons, whose cell bodies rest within the spinal cord, convey leaving
signals from the spinal cord. The somatic nervous system regulates the skeletal muscles that
assist the movement of the body. Nerve cells in the autonomic nervous mechanism regulate the
involuntary actions in the body like those carried out by heart, stomach and liver. Autonomic
nervous system comprises of the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems. This mechanism
regulates our emotions. It reacts by heightening blood sugar level, heart rate, and blood pressure
and decelerates the process of digestion. These transformations enable us to handle distressing
circumstances. The parasympathetic nervous system controls the activities in relaxed
circumstances. Nevertheless, the two systems work jointly in many circumstances and make
adjustments likely (Alexander, DeLong and Strick, 2010)
All living beings are distinct as they vary from members of other species. An animal’s
physical outline and behavior differs from person to person. The former is caked as genotype and
the later known as phenotype. Each person phenotype is the consequence of the association
between its genotype and the atmosphere. The physical growth is in huge part founded upon the
genes we inherit from our parents. It is widely thought that the genetic traits conveyed by
genetic aspects set restrictions on the potentials of organisms. The available genetic hypothesis is
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CONTROVERSY OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM
founded on the work of Gregory Mendel. He indicated that the traits of parents passed upon to
their progeny via genes. These genes could generate noticeable traits in the progeny, or could be
transported for likely transmission to other generation. The offspring of one group of parents do
not essentially inherit all the same traits. These two cells like all others carry inside them
material that form a definite number of rods like units known as chromosomes. The procedure of
inheritance is founded on the process in which the progeny obtains one of each genie pair from
every parent. Behavior of humans becomes consequential in their cultural perspective. In terms
of mutual meanings and practices distinct cultures guide is in selecting our objectives and
carrying out ourselves in numerous circumstances (Bullock, Orkan and Grinnell, 2011). It is
significant to understand that human behavior is fashioned by the biological capacity as well as
environment contributions. Nevertheless, the two interrelate and equally establish behavior in a
cultural which offers an exact direction to behavior. A child, for example, grows in a family,
gets formal learning in school and plays with toys. Human behavior can be significantly
comprehended in a cultural perspective. Culture comprises of the human made segment of
environment. It has individual and material features. Cultures denote meanings and practices
which are conveyed from generation to the other. They are preserved via the process of
socialization.
According to Cibelli et al (2009) stem cells are unparticular cells that can be stimulated to
become focused cells under particular trial circumstances. They have the potential of reinstating
themselves via cell partition over an indistinct time frame. Parkinson’s disease is a neurological
abnormality that causes disruptions in the motor operations amounting to patient having trouble
moving. Other traits that are not always there are tremors and stiffening of limbs. By large the
largest part of contentious stem cells is human embryonic cells. These cells indicate better
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CONTROVERSY OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM
capacity as a result of their true pluripotent nature but are normally gotten from the blastocysts
phase of a fertilized egg which eliminates an embryo with the ability of turning human. As a
consequence of their pluripotent nature, human embryonic stem cell can fundamentally be
utilized to treat a huge form of degenerative diseases, such as Parkinson’s as well as spinal cord
injuries. These human embryonic cells might be transferred into the brain to substitute and
produce dopamine nerve cells. The debate revolves around about how one can extract these stem
cells. Scientists have found out that the cells in the embryo comprise all the tissue varieties. A
lot of religious lobbies claim that stem cell research must be aborted by the federal
administration, since the elimination of the embryos is only as terrible as abortion (Dunnett,
Bjorklund, and Lindvall, 2011). Conversely, pro-lifers argue that embryos utilized to obtain the
stem cells are equal to humans being eliminated. Conversely, the debate is that embryonic cells
are not alive, i.e. they lack a soul. The difficulty is not that stem cell fall short of becoming
dopamine neurons; the quandary rests on regulating development of these cells. Thereby, it is
yet too premature to try these transfers of stem cell on human patients. The CNS faces a lot of
grave damages that were initially regarded permanent. Current findings of neural stem cells,
nevertheless, show that scientists are working to create cell-replacements therapies that will
someday reinstate function to patients of Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, and epilepsy
(Kiessling, 2012).
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References
Hobert, O (2005). Specification of the nervous system. New York, NY: Oxford University Press
Alexander, G.E., DeLong, M.R. and Strick, P.L. (2010). “Parallel organization of functionally
segregated circuits linking basal ganglia and cortex.” Neurosci, 9: 357-381
Bullock, T.H., Orkand, R. and Grinnell, A. (2011). Introduction to Nervous Systems. W.H.
Freeman: San Francisco.
Cibelli J.B., K.A. Grant, K.B. Chapman, K. Cunniff, T. Worst, H. Green, et al. (2009).
“Parthenogenetic Stem Cells in Non-human Primates”. Science, 12(9): 295- 819.
Dunnett, S.B., A. Bjorklund, and O. Lindvall. (2011). “Cell therapy in Parkinson’s disease—stop
or go?”Neurosci, 2: 365–369.
Kiessling, A. (2012). Eggs Alone – Human parthenotes: an ethical source of stem cells for
therapies. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.