Page - 31 - in Cyborg Mind - What Brain–Computer and Mind–Cyberspace Interfaces Mean for Cyberneuroethics

Chapter 3 PresentAtion of the brAin–Mind interfACe I Before examining the manner in which neuronal interfaces may directly con- nect the mind and cyberspace, it is necessary to first study what these neuro- nal networks represent and how they function in the central nervous system, which includes the brain and the spinal cord. The Central Nervous System The central nervous system consists of the brain and the spinal cord, which are situated in the skull and vertebrae respectively. Both have easily described main structures, though in each case, the fine substructures are exceedingly complex. They are both also formed of neurons, which are cells that store, process and transmit information through electrical and chemi- cal signals. These neurons comprise a central body from which emanate a number of long fibrous branches consisting of one axon and a number of dendrites. They are therefore spider-like with spindly filament extensions that branch out, repeatedly, to make contact with other parts of the same neuron or with other neurons. A network is thus formed of neuronal con- nections. All the nerves in the human body consist of a bundle of axons of many neurons conveying information to and from the central nervous system. Glial cells are also present in the nervous system and act to support neu- rons by enabling important chemical and physiological reactions to take This open access edition has been made available under a CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license thanks to the support of Knowledge Unlatched. Not for resale.