part_of nervous system central nervous system 2008-03-04T05:26:00Z BILA:0000080 CNS In physiological terms, a CNS integrates and processes sensory information coming from the periphery, and initiates body-wide responses via neurosecretion into the body fluid or direct stimulation of the body musculature. Anatomically, a CNS is a delimited nervous tissue that comprises distinct agglomerations of functionally specialized neurons (nuclei) interconnected by axon tracts (neuropil). The CNS may be subdivided into separate parts (ganglia). It connects to the periphery via nerves. A CNS thus defined is found in various shapes and degrees of complexity in different animal phyla, including vertebrates and many invertebrates, such as echinoderms, arthropods, nematodes, molluscs and annelids. bila henrich