A word is one or more sounds that in combination have a specific meaning assigned by a language. The symbolic meaning of words can be so powerful that people are willing to risk their lives for them or take the lives of others.
A nerve impulse is the relaying of a coded signal from a nerve cell to an effector (a muscle cell, a gland cell or another nerve cell) in response to a stimulus. It is the means by which a nerve cell communicates with another cell.
Nerve impulses travel to or from the brain through the spinal cord, which is made up of long bundles of nerve tissue and is protected within the bones of the spine. Nerves exit the spine by way of small canals, known as the intervertebral foramina formed between two adjacent vertebrae.