Changes

== Introduction ==

== Introduction ==

Cognition is conceptualized as the processing of information acquired through the senses. The central nervous system (CNS; nerves within the brain and spine) integrates and responds to signals transmitted by the peripheral nervous system (PNS; nerves outside the brain and spine), whose primary function is to connect the CNS with the rest of the body and the environment [[1]

Cognition is conceptualized as the processing of information acquired through the senses. The central nervous system (CNS; nerves within the brain and spine) integrates and responds to signals transmitted by the peripheral nervous system (PNS; nerves outside the brain and spine), whose primary function is to connect the CNS with the rest of the body and the environment [[1]]. The cranial nerves are a specialized part of the PNS that emerge directly from the brain rather than through the spine and include both afferents and efferents. Afferent cranial nerve axons convey sensory information —sight, hearing, taste (gustation), touch (heat, pressure, pain, proprioception), smell (olfaction), interoception (input from the gut and internal organs), and equilibrium— to the brain. Efferent cranial nerves’ axons regulate muscles (smooth, skeletal, and cardiac) and glands (either directly or through a postganglionic axon; Table 1). In contrast to other peripheral nerves that first route through the spinal cord, cranial nerves project directly through the skull into the brain, which makes them a special target for neuromodulation. For each cranial nerve, there is a portion that is relatively accessible (extra-cranial), and each nerve is intimately linked to perception and regulation of CNS function, including established “bottom-up” functions in cognition and clinical disorders [2, 3, 4].

]. The cranial nerves are a specialized part of the PNS that emerge directly from the brain rather than through the spine and include both afferents and efferents. Afferent cranial nerve axons convey sensory information —sight, hearing, taste (gustation), touch (heat, pressure, pain, proprioception), smell (olfaction), interoception (input from the gut and internal organs), and equilibrium— to the brain. Efferent cranial nerves’ axons regulate muscles (smooth, skeletal, and cardiac) and glands (either directly or through a postganglionic axon; Table 1). In contrast to other peripheral nerves that first route through the spinal cord, cranial nerves project directly through the skull into the brain, which makes them a special target for neuromodulation. For each cranial nerve, there is a portion that is relatively accessible (extra-cranial), and each nerve is intimately linked to perception and regulation of CNS function, including established “bottom-up” functions in cognition and clinical disorders [2, 3, 4].

=== Table 1 ===

=== Table 1 ===