The Nervous System

The Nervous System
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The Nervous System
1. The functioning of the nervous system is boosted when all neurons are myelinated. This is because myelination increases the speed of action propagation along axon connections. Most of the axons in the central nervous system are wrapped in myelin as well as the axons of the peripheral nervous system which connect the CNS to sensory neurons and skeletal muscles. According to et al. (2016), myelin increases conduction velocity and reduces metabolic costs of action potentials. Myelination plays a big role in normal neural function in terms of circuitry and plasticity. Layers of myelin provide insulation which helps in achieving rapid impulse conduction.
2. Absence of synapses in the nervous system would mean there is no information transmission. Synapses connect nerve cells with their targets like organs or other nerve cells. It allows neurons to move sensory information to and from the brain. Their absence would lead to organ malfunctioning which means one is essentially dead. Nerve cells communicate to target cells, effector cells like muscles and other neurons using synapses also identified as specialized contact sites. The electrical signal which is in form of an action potential needs to undergo synaptic transmission that is moving from a presynaptic neuron to a presynaptic cell (Schweizer, 2001). Absence of synapses would mean that information is cut out.
3. When the cerebellum fails to receive feedback information from the skeletal muscles motor control becomes impaired.

According to Manto (2012), the cerebellum plays an important role in timing and receiving sensory information. The feedback helps in predicting sensory consequences of sensory action. Poor feedback is related to conditions like limb movement disorders and eye movement disorders. Cerebellum obtain feedback about muscle activity and muscle roles. Absence of feedback from the skeletal muscles makes it difficult to control muscle movement and also leads to poor muscle coordination.
4. A larger part of the primary sensory somatic area of the cerebral cortex is dedicated to face and hands because most neurons in the cerebral cortex are devoted to processing touch information from these parts of the body. The primary sensory somatic areas of the cortex has a sensory spatial map called sensory homunculus. It shows that a larger part is dedicated to the hands and facial parts like nose, lips and eyes.

References
Manto, M., Bower, J. M., Conforto, A. B., Delgado-García, J. M., da Guarda, S. N. F., Gerwig, M., … & Molinari, M. (2012). Consensus paper: roles of the cerebellum in motor control—the diversity of ideas on cerebellar involvement in the movement. The Cerebellum, 11(2), 457-487.
Micheva, K. D., Wolman, D., Mensh, B. D., Pax, E., Buchanan, J., Smith, S. J., & Bock, D. D. (2016). A large fraction of neocortical myelin ensheathes axons of local inhibitory neurons. Elife, 5.
Schweizer, F.E. (2013). Synapses. Encyclopaedia Of Life Sciences. Los Angeles: University of California, Los Angeles.