Function:
The function of the brain is to sense and interact with the environment,
and to integrate and control the activities of the body. The spinal cord
is the path for obtaining the input from the peripheral
sensory nerves, and distributing the responses of the brain through
the motor nerves. The vagus
nerve, the 10th cranial nerve
coming from the brainstem, uses the spinal cord
to distribute it's motor output to the viscera and to the somatic
parts of the body, including the integument.