What term describes the system that includes the brain, spinal cord, and all the nerves connecting them to the rest of the body?

What term describes the system that includes the brain, spinal cord, and all the nerves connecting them to the rest of the body?

• A. Autonomic nervous system
• B. Central nervous system
• C. Nervous system
• D. Peripheral nervous system

Answer: (C)

Think about the network that coordinates all body functions: the nervous system. It includes the brain and spinal cord (the central part) and every nerve that extends from them to reach tissues and organs throughout the body (the peripheral connections). Describing a system that contains both the brain and spinal cord plus all the nerves connecting to the rest of the body points to the entire nervous system, not just one subset. The central nervous system would miss the nerves extending to the body, while the peripheral nervous system would miss the brain and spinal cord themselves. The autonomic nervous system is only the subset that manages involuntary functions, not the whole network. So the best term is the nervous system.