You're in the middle of a meeting at work, but your mind keeps
drifting to the parent-teacher conference you have tonight ...
and the car you have to pick up at the shop on the way home ...
and how you wish you hadn't skipped lunch because the rumbling
in your stomach is driving you nuts. Then, suddenly, you're back
in the moment, hoping nobody noticed your brief "departure." It
may seem as if your brain is always on the go. And it is. The
brain not only controls what you think and feel, how you learn
and remember, and the way you move and talk, but also many
things you're less aware of — such as the beating of your heart,
the digestion of your food, and yes, even the amount of stress
you feel. Like you, your brain is quite the juggler. Anatomy of
the Nervous System If you think of the brain as a central
computer that controls all bodily functions, then the nervous
system is like a network that relays messages back and forth
from the brain to different parts of the body. It does this via
the spinal cord, whic