The brain and spinal cord compose the Central Nervous System (CNS), which is the control center of the body. Inputs from muscles, involuntary organs, and senses travel through the nerves of the Peripheral Nervous System (PNS) into the CNS where they are interpreted. Signals may travel within the brain to separate functional areas. Instructions are then sent outward again for voluntary movement and involuntary regulation to complete the endless loop of the nervous system circuitry. The CNS is critical to function of the entire body, which is why incurred injury and disease cripple one’s quality of life. In the United States alone approximately 265,000 people are.
