The central nervous system is made up of the brain and the spinal cord. The brain communicates with the rest of the body through the spinal cord, which runs from the base of the brain all the way down the back. The spinal cord is made up of lots of nerves, and these nerves branch out into more nerves that travel to every part of the body. Nerves carry lightning-fast electrical messages up and down the spinal cord. Messages travel from the brain into the spinal cord and out to the body's nerves to tell the body what to do. Messages to the brain tell it what's happening with the rest of the body.
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