central nervous system (CNS) - Parts of the CNS

A collection of nerve cells, connected in an intricate and complex manner, which is involved in the control of movement and the analysis of sensation, and in humans also subserves the higher-order functions of thought, language, and emotion. In vertebrates it consists of the brain and spinal cord, enclosed within the meninges within the skull and vertebral column.

The central nervous system (CNS) represents the largest part of the nervous system, including the brain and the spinal cord. This has brought the conception of the CNS as an autonomous system.
See main article on Brain Function

In the developing fetus, the CNS originates from the neural plate, a specialised region of the ectoderm, the most external of the three embryonic layers. Later, the brainstem will subdivide into rhombencephalon and mesencephalon, and the prosencephalon into diencephalon and telencephalon.
See main article on Neural development

The CNS is covered by the meninges, the brain is protected by the skull and the spinal cord by the vertebrae. Finally, the telencephalon gives rise to the striatum (caudate nucleus and putamen), the hippocampus and the neocortex, its cavity becomes the lateral (first and second) ventricles.
See main article on Neuroanatomy

The basic pattern of the CNS is highly conserved throughout the different species of vertebrates and during evolution. Indeed, the allometric study of brain size among different species shows a striking continuity from rats to whales, and allows us to complete the knowledge about the evolution of the CNS obtained through cranial endocasts.
See main article on Brain Evolution (Other relevant articles: Brain, Evolution, Encephalization, Neocortex, Archicortex, Vertebrate)

Parts of the CNS

Spinal cord
Brain	Brainstem	Rhombencephalon	Pons, Cerebellum, Medulla oblongata
		Mesencephalon	Tectum, Cerebral peduncle, Pretectum, Mesencephalic duct
	Prosencephalon	Diencephalon	Epithalamus, Thalamus, Hypothalamus, Subthalamus, Pituitary Gland, Pineal Gland, Third ventricle
		Telencephalon	Basal ganglia, Rhinencephalon, Amygdala, Hippocampus, Neocortex, Lateral ventricles