What are nervous system signals?

Nervous system signals are like messages that help your body talk to itself.

Imagine you're playing on the swings. You see your friend waving at you from across the playground. Your eyes send a message to your brain, saying, "Hey, my friend is waving!" Then your brain sends a message back down to your arms and legs, telling them to wave back. Those messages are nervous system signals.

Your body has special wires called nerve cells, or neurons. These wires carry the messages from one part of your body to another. It’s like having a telephone line between different rooms in your house, when someone talks in one room, their voice travels down the phone line so someone else can hear it in another room.

When you touch something hot, like a stove, the signals go super fast: "Ouch! That's hot!" Your brain gets the message and tells your legs to run away. All of this happens in no time at all, just like when you press a button on your toy remote, and your favorite show starts playing right away.

Nervous system signals are like tiny, super-fast messengers that help your body react, move, feel, and think!