4 ms·

So the spinal cord is only a wire and, besides reflexes, there is no processing done anywhere else, but the brain? How about neurons in the gut, I've read some

• Sharlin 3y ago
  There is processing in the autonomous nervous system, all sorts of regulation, and adaptation, perhaps something that could be called learning – we don’t really know what happens in the gut nerve complex yet, as it’s so recent "discovery". Fully autonomous muscle movements like heartbeat, or the peristaltic motion of the gut, are not directly controlled by the brain, but they certainly respond to signals sent by the brain – eg. brain processes sensory data, determines there’s a danger, upregulates the pituitary gland which starts secreting adrenocorticotrophic hormone, which once it reaches your adrenal glands, causes them to start producing adrenaline, which in turn causes all sorts of changes all over the body related to the fight-or-flee reaction. The skeletal muscle, though – I don’t think its innervation is capable of anything but reflexive motion without the brain telling it what to do.