The Nervous System

In Our Time

BBC

History

4.6 • 9.2K Ratings

🗓️ 10 February 2011

⏱️ 43 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the nervous system.

Most animals have a nervous system, a network of nerve tissues which allows parts of the body to communicate with each other. In humans the most significant parts of this network are the brain, spinal column and retinas, which together make up the central nervous system. But there is also a peripheral nervous system, which enables sensation, movement and the regulation of the major organs.

Scholars first described the nerves of the human body over two thousand years ago. For 1400 years it was believed that they were animated by 'animal spirits', mysterious powers which caused sensation and movement. In the eighteenth century scientists discovered that nerve fibres transmitted electrical impulses; it was not until the twentieth century that chemical agents - neurotransmitters - were first identified.

With:

Colin Blakemore Professor of Neuroscience at the University of Oxford

Vivian Nutton Emeritus Professor of the History of Medicine at University College, London

Tilli Tansey Professor of the History of Modern Medical Sciences at Queen Mary, University of London.

Producer: Thomas Morris.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Just before this BBC podcast gets underway, here's something you may not know.
0:04.7	My name's Linda Davies and I Commission Podcasts for BBC Sounds.
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0:39.0	For more details about In Our Time and for our terms of use, please go to BBC.co. UK forward slash radio for. I hope you enjoy
0:46.5	the program. Hello running through every part of our bodies is a network of fibres.
0:53.0	This is the nervous system, an elaborate structure which carries information throughout
0:57.2	the body.
0:58.2	It allows the brain to control our muscles and internal organs and also convey sensations such as sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch in the opposite direction.
1:07.0	Scholars first described the nerves of the human body over 2,000 years ago.
1:12.0	The Roman Surgeon Galen believed they were channels for what he called
1:15.7	animal spirits, mysterious powers which cause sensation and movement. It wasn't until the
1:21.2	18th century that scientists began to understand how nerves worked.
1:25.0	Today, thanks to modern neuroscience, we know much more about the complex network of cells which
1:30.2	controls and coordinates our bodies. With me to discuss the history and science of nervous system,
1:36.0	are Colin Blakemore, Professor of Neuroscience at the University of Oxford, Vivian Nutton,
1:41.2	Emeritus Professor of the History of Medicine at University College London,
1:45.0	and Tilly Tansi Professor of the History of Modern Medical Sciences at Queen Mary University of London.
1:50.5	Vivian Notten interest in nerves began in the ancient world. Can we just have a quick
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