Central nervous system interconnectivity

Enteric nerves control intestinal smooth muscle action and are connected to the brain by the autonomic nervous system. IBS is thought to result from dysregulation of this brain-gut axis. The enteric nervous system is composed of two gan-glionated plexuses that control gut innervation the submucous plexus (Meissner s plexus) and the myenteric plexus (Auerbach s plexus). The enteric nervous system and the central nervous system (CNS) are interconnected and interdependent. A number of neurochemicals mediate their function, including serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine or 5-HT), acetylcholine, substance P, and nitric oxide, among others. 

The nervous system consists of various cell types that are functionally interconnected so as to allow efficient signal transmission throughout the system (see Chapter 48). The cells of the central nervous system are protected from potentially toxic compounds by the blood-brain barrier, which restricts entry of compounds into the nervous system (ammonia, however, is a notable exception). The brain cells communicate with each other and with other organs, through the synthesis of neurotransmitters and neuropeptides. Many of the neurotransmitters are derived from amino acids, most of which are synthesized within the nerve cell. Because the pathways of amino acid and neurotransmitter biosynthesis require cofactors (such as pyridoxal phosphate, thiamine pyrophosphate, and vitamin BI2), deficiencies of these cofactors can lead to neuropathies (dysfunction of specific neurons within the nervous system). 

The nervous system can be divided into three parts the central nervous system (CNS), the peripheral nervous system (PNS), and the autonomic nervous system (ANS) (Dawson et al. 2003). The CNS consists of the brain and spinal cord. The PNS resides outside the CNS and forms a network to collect information from sensory responses. The ANS is identified by primary ganglia of the head and neck, sympathetic chain and adrenal gland (Gabella and Larry 2009). The primary function of the nervous system is to receive input from the environment and innervate muscle tissues in response. To accomplish this task, neurons, which are the basic unit of the functional nervous system (Dawson et al. 2003), form a highly specific interconnecting network from the brain to the spinal cord. There are 12 paired cranial nerve and 31 paired spinal nerve connections between the CNS and the PNS, which result in motor/ efferent, sensory/afferent, or mixed function. Furthermore, internal environments such as cardiorespiratory activities, glandular secretions, vasodilatation and genital erectile tissue responses are monitored by an array of visceral receptors, chemoreceptors, and stretch receptors via autonomic nerves from the CNS (Keller et al. 2009). 

The central point within our consciousness, our "spirit" in the hermetic sense, can now be seen as an entity that can work to control quantum probabilities. To our "spirits" our brain is a quantum sea providing a rich realm in which it can incarnate and manifest patterns down into the electrical/chemical impulses of the nervous system. (It has been calculated that the number of interconnections existing in our brains far exceeds the number of atoms in the whole universe - so in this sense the microcosm truly mirrors the macrocosm ). Our "spirit" can through quantum borrowing momentarily press a certain order into this sea and this manifests as a thought, emotion, etc. Such an ordered state can only exist momentarily, before our spirit or point of consciousness is forced to jump and move to other regions of the brain, where at that moment the pattern of probability waves for the particles in these nerve cells, can reflect the form that our spirit is trying to work with. 

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