Download ACP Level 2 Lesson Twelve

ACP-2 Lesson Twelve
The Nervous System
Nerves, this is where serious aromatherapy starts. You are likely to have two main
sectors of clients who are seeking guidance. Those people who are in emotional pain
and those experiencing pain of a physical kind. Nerves play an important part in both.
To get you into the extremely good habit of always trying to see where the spiritual
disturbance lies in physical disease, think…
“You are really starting to get on my nerves!”
Anything pertaining to nerves is neurological and so, of course, this also encompasses
the brain. The nervous system is split in to two main areas:

The Central or Cerebrospinal Nervous System

The Autonomic System: This is broken down into the sympathetic and
theparasympathetic systems. This will be covered more in depth later in this lesson.
By now, you should have a clear understanding that the brain sends out its messages to
the body and it reacts to changes by triggering hormones. The missing step is how the
messages get there, and this is via the nerves.
The constitution of a nerve
At the center of every nerve is a cell called
aneuron. In fact, this is the body of the
cell.
These have long, branch extensions
called nerve fibers or axons. In some
cases, these extensions can be up to a yard
long. They are protected by an outer fatty
sheath.
There are two types of nerve fiber
either medullated, or non-medullated, depending on whether they contain myelin.
White nerve fibers are medullated and grey ones are non-medullated, which means
they have no myelin inside.
What is myelin?
Think of myelin like the rubber coating around the copper of an electrical wire. Its job
is to contain and insulate the electrical impulses which travel along the axon.
Predominately, it consists of lipids and proteins.
Myelin is found only along the nerves of the Central Nervous System. Damage to the
myelin sheath is one of the primary indicators of Multiple Sclerosis. Scientists don’t
really understand why this happens yet, but it is believed that an unusual infection or
attack causes scarring, lesions and bare spots. These distort electrical messages to and
from the brain.
If we were to do a Hannibal Lecter and look inside of the spinal column, we would find
a very clearly marked H shape which betrays the arrangement of the nerves. The grey
non modulated ones make the H shape and then the white myelin make up the spaces
in between.
In fact every nerve goes through the spine (I hope you are shouting except the olfactory
nerves through the sinuses by now. You’d be right. These are the only ones that don’t).
This explains why damage to the back is so catastrophic. The higher up the injury is,
the worse the consequences as partial or complete paralysis occurs below the injury.
Injury to the brain of course, causes brain impairment or even death.
The spine protects the nerves from external pressure. Electrical impulses traverse this
bony tunnel endlessly, keeping our systems ticking.
Strong fibrous membranes are inside of the bony layers of the skull. These are
the meninges.

The outer layer we call dura mater

Inside of this is the arachnoid mater

Inside that is the pia mater
This part, I love. Mater, of course is mother. The names of the layers of protection
demonstrate each facet of the mother’s personality.
On the outside you have the Dura mater which is the strong mother. A double thickness
wraps around the outside of the brain and then a single thickness around the spine.
Inside of that is a web-like layer. I like to imagine the spider creating her terrible lair
around her child. Keeping it safe from the world outside.
Closest to the nerves, at the very centers is the pia mater, or tender mother. An
extremely thin layer of tissue, this is supplied richly with blood. The arachnoid and pia
maters are inflamed in breakouts of meningitis.
In some places the layers are touching (or very close to), though there are large spaces
filled with cerebro-spinal fluid. This provides extra cushioning in cases of shocks or
blows.
Nervous tissue comprises of neurons. These are uniquely designed cells.
There are three types of neuron:



Sensory – These tell the brain about heat, pain, pressure, light, sound, etc. These
travel the spinal cord.
Motor – These carry impulses to your muscles. At end of each motor neuron is a motor
end plate. This attaches to an individual muscle fiber taking impulses from the brain to
stimulate movement.
Connector – These connect actions of other neurons. You will sometimes see these
referred to as relay, transfer or immediate neurons.
There are literally thousands of millions of these connector neurons in the brain and
spinal column. Connections which happen between two or more neurons is called
a synapse.
Okay, so far? It’s not brain surgery is it… neurology that is? Oh wait, it is! I definitely
think it is easier than the muscles lesson though, there is less Latin to pronounce! Let’s
have a probe round the brain then, shall we? Our, next lesson!