The Nervous System and the Affective Neural Systems

In terms of neurobiological structures, the nervous system is similar in all mammals. This similarity is even stronger in the subcortical part of the brain, where most of our affects and feelings are generated. These findings bring the human species closer to the other mammals, more than ever imagined. An important difference is that human brain has the exclusive ability to generate its noblest products, such as language and abstract thoughts. In this chapter, main aspects of the human central nervous system, as well as other systems commanded by the brain, will be further detailed: peripheral nervous system, autonomous nervous system, sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems, cortical and subcortical areas, and right and left hemispheres. Subsequently, the neuroanatomical units of the brain will be presented: neurons and glial cells; and the mechanisms by which they connect to each other, producing neural messages, due to the action of neurotransmitters, neuropeptides, and neurohormones, as well as other binding substances. Among neural messages, the affective ones will be enhanced.