Page 140 - The Miracle of Electricity in the Body

138 THE MIRACLE OF ELECTRICITY IN THE BODY

The Spinal Column That Assumes Control in

Emergencies

The spinal column, the main pathway of the body’s communication
network, transmits data to the brain and sends commands to other re-
gions of the body. Like a broad bundle of electrical cables, it enables
commands on the nerves to travel with ease between the brain and the
body’s other regions. In the same way that the brain is protected by the
skull, the spinal column is protected by the vertebrae that comprise the
backbone. Here, nerve cells analyze the signals coming to the body from
the brain, and form complex electrical circuits that determine where and
how they are to be transmitted.
Sometimes the spinal column can perform its duties in a partially
independent manner, without control from the brain. A reflex may be
described as an automatic, fixed reaction to a specific stimulus. Reflexes
allow us to react swiftly against risks and threats. The brain normally
represents the human body’s command center, but for emergency situa-

tions, a faster system has been constructed in the nervous system. Many
reflex actions are directed by a group of nerve cells in the spinal cord.
The sudden movements we refer to as reflexes take place extraordi-
narily quickly by means of the circuits in the spinal cord. The very swift
decisions to move come not from the brain, but from the spinal column.
Were this mechanism directed by the brain instead, then when you
touched a hot oven by mistake, there would be a time lag between your
feeling the heat and retracting your hand. Yet you immediately retract
your hand, preserving your fingers from getting burned. Thus the im-
portant spinal cord must be protected in a most secure manner.
We can compare the spinal cord to the cables inside a computer. If
you constantly bend and twist them, they will eventually snap, and your
computer will not work at all. Similarly, the spinal cord transmits impor-
tant data, and every precaution for its protection has been taken. For one
thing, the backbone is much longer than the spinal cord, so that the latter
is entirely encased in bone.