In today’s episode I will talk about the “way towards the gating process”, as I do believe very strongly that if we know the way towards our target, we will easily reach that target.
Let me return back to the brain and its allies. I repeat here only for the purpose of understanding that the nervous system is formed of: Somatic & Autonomic divisions. The somatic division is formed of: Central & Peripheral systems. The autonomic division is formed of: Sympathetic & Parasympathetic systems.
That is not the end of the story !!. The central somatic system is formed of: the Brain & the Spinal cord. The peripheral system is formed of the Proximal & the Distal systems. The proximal system is formed of a network of Trunks & an outcome Fibres. The fibres are formed of three different types of nerve bundles: A, B, and C fibres, and the three different types of nerve fibres do make both the motor and the sensory divisions of the peripheral nervous system. That is where I will start today’s talk !!.
In order for all of us to see the picture in front of our eyes and to understand the process; let me give you a practical example from our day to day living.
Let me talk about me as an example of anyone of you. Just imagine that I wanted to go to the Canary Islands for a quick holiday !!. I would have the interest(the desire), then I develop the will(motivation) to go ahead, then I just make the “decision” to start preparing for my trip !!. I am now ready to kickstart, I am going there what so ever !!.
Now it is the time of preparing, and for me to make my plan. How can I travel to there?!. I will put all what I need during my vacation in my travel bag, then I just call for a taxi to take me to the nearest airport. That is the “electric” message created in certain cells of the brain(neurons), and the electric message will descend down from the grey matter to the white matter, then leaves the white matter just below the medulla at the start of the neck to join the spinal cord and run down on the opposite side. That is the taxi which is taking me to the airport !!. My taxi will driver will use motorway or one of the A roads. I doubt it very much that my taxi driver would use B roads to the airport. That will take him much longer to e there. Next, my taxi driver will just drop me in front of the terminal entrance, then it is for me to navigate my way to the check-in station and I will be ready to ride.
The signal will travel in A or B fibres to its destination in the anterior horn cells(check in), and from there the signal(the traveller) will go to its destination in the muscle, gland, or skin. It is the same as me riding the airplane on my way to the Canary Island’s airport. Then I will get out and call another taxi to take me to the hotel, then start my holiday and enjoy every bit of it !!.
The electric signal will leave the spinal cord terminal and travel through the motor nerve fibres to the other landing place in the neural junction(the destination airport) then to the final stop to make the required action or actions.
On returning back from my holiday, I will take a returning taxi to the first airport, then to the arrival airport, then a taxi to take me home, and I meet my family and tell them about my lovely holiday!!.
A touch over the skin will create an electric signal underneath it, and that signal will travel back through a chosen nerve depending on its strength(A, or B, or C fibres), to find its way back to the spinal cord. Big signals carried out by A fibres will travel up through the spinal cord, to the posterior(back) part of the brain and finally to the sensory neurons to cause an effect which could be pain. Those arrived signals to the final sensory destination(me returning back to my house !) will talk to the surrounding motor neurons(me talking to my family !) for them to make the next move( me telling my kids about the funny things in my holiday to make them smile; or may be telling them about something wrong happened to me to make them frown and be ready to do something !)> A sensory message will be passed to motor neurons which will decide what sort of reaction needs to be done. If it is a sharp pain signal, and it is strong; then the motor neurons will create a stronger electrical stimulus to pass it down through A fibres to the part of the body which was under attack and move that part away from danger quickly and strongly. If the arriving message was very mild( let us say a touch or a tickle) , it’ll take the B or C fibres to travel through and it’ll end up in the posterior horn of the spinal cord which will pass it to the nearby motor fibres to deal with it locally with no need to send it up to the brain. It may lead to a gentle move of the hand away from the touching object, or it may just enjoy the touch with no action required. That will be the talking subject in the next time.
Next talk will be about A, B, and C fibres, and the “gate theory”. The final talk will be about you and how can you use your “gate theory” to enjoy your live and create pleasures and comfort for yourself. Have a lovely day !!.