Farmasevtika instituti farmakologiya va klinik farmatsiya kafedrasi

Processing of Information
—―Integrative‖ Function of the Nervous System 
One of the 
most important functions of the nervous system is to process incoming information in such a way that 
appropriate 
mental and motor responses will occur. More than 99 percent of all sensory information is 
discarded by the brain as irrelevant and unimportant. For instance, one is ordinarily unaware of the 
parts of the body thatare in contact with clothing, as well as of the seat pressure when sitting. 
Likewise, attention is drawn only to an occasional object in one‘s field of vision, and even the 
perpetual noise of our surroundings is usually relegated to the subconscious. 
Storage of Information
—Memory 
Only a small fraction of even the most important sensory 
information usually causes immediate motor response. But much of the information is stored for future 
control of motor activities and for use in the thinking processes. Most storage occurs in the 
cerebral 
cortex, 
but even the basal regions of the brain and the spinal cord can storesmall amounts of 
information.
Major Levels of Central Nervous System Function 
The human nervous system has inherited special functional capabilities from each stage of human 
evolutionary development. From this heritage, three major levels of the central nervous system have 
specific functional characteristics: 
(1) the 
spinal cord level, 
(2) the 
lower brain 
or 
subcortical level, 
and (3) the 
higher brain 
or 
cortical level. 
Lower Brain or Subcortical Level 
Many, if not most, of what we call subconscious activities of the body are controlled in the lower 
areas of the brain—in the medulla, pons, mesencephalon, hypothalamus, thalamus, cerebellum, and 
basal ganglia. For instance, subconscious control of arterial pressure and respiration is achieved mainly 
in the medulla and pons.