Dr. Hartmuth Bittner is a Lafayette, Indiana-based physician who provides patients with minimally invasive treatment for a range of cardiothoracic diseases. Among Dr. Hartmuth Bittner’s accomplishments has been presenting a lecture on “The Human Nervous System” as a guest of the University of Heidelberg in Germany.

The central nervous system is comprised of a network of neurons that modulate, generate, and transmit data across various regions of the human body. One critical element of this system is the spinal cord, which is comprised of a lengthy bundle of nerve tissue, about a half-inch thick and 18 inches in length. It runs down the back starting at the base of the brain and is comprised of threadlike nerves that branch out across every region and organ of the body.

Together, the brain and the spinal cord comprise the central nervous system. Because these parts of the body are so critical to bodily function, they are girded by bones: the brain by the skull and the spinal cord by ring-shaped vertebrae. Both are also cushioned by cerebrospinal fluid and membrane layers known as meninges. The fluid protects and nourishes nerve tissue, while removing waste products.

The brain contains billions of neurons, which relay information between each other via electrochemical processes and define how one moves, reacts, senses, behaves, and learns. These are transmitted via the spinal cord to the peripheral nervous system, which controls everything from movement of the fingers to how sensations are felt.