Central and Peripheral

The nervous system is divided into two parts, central and peripheral.

The central nervous system consists of the brain and spinal cord -  the body's command center and the superhighway for two-way transmission of nerve impulses.

The peripheral nervous system receives information about temperature, touch, pressure, and pain, and delivers instructions to muscles. It consists of the cranial nerves and the spinal or peripheral nerves.

The cranial nerves are responsible for facial muscles and the transmission of information from the senses. They spread out from under the brain in a region called the brain stem..

The spinal nerves branch out from the spinal cord along its length, linking the body's extremities and central nervous system. This division of the nervous system is for ease of understanding; it is not a physical split.

Many nerve cells are partly in the central nervous system and partly in the peripheral nervous system.