Your Wondrous Nervous System

Wonders of the Human Body This book provides facts and ideas about essential aspects of life, and suggestions about how to stay healthy. We are hardly aware of how the body works, since it man¬ages very well without our conscious control. The di¬gestion of food and the intricate extraction of nutrients are examples of the many automatic functions that help us survive. An extensive network of nerves reports to the spinal cord and to the brain. The five basic senses, vision, hearing, taste, smell, and touch inform us of the external world. The performance of a symphony orchestra demonstrates the un¬believable accuracy and efficiency of the nervous system. A complicated piece of music seems to stream directly from the brain of the musician to the piano or the violin. The predominant part of our bodily pains is caused by muscular knots some¬where. Unfortunately, the pain fails to tell us where the primary cause is. Once the knot has been detected, however, the pain may be re¬moved by deep massage. Recently, behavioural therapies have been invented that may seem laughable in terms of their theory and practice, but are respect¬able in view of the documented effects on various kinds of phobias and painful memories. The past century provided amazing facts about evolution and the human genome, but recent discoveries clearly show that heritage is not exclusively determined by the DNA mole¬cule. Epigenetics opens completely new perspectives that may lead to a medical revolution.