how come our hands do what we want them to do immediantly without us thinking about it.

Question: how come our hands do what we want them to do immediantly without us thinking about it.

Asked by erandavitija to Laura, Lily, Mark, Paul, Sarah on 21 Jun 2010 in Categories: General.
- Paul Roche answered on 18 Jun 2010:
  
  This is really one for the biologists, but it only seems like the response is instant as the delay between thinking “move my fingers” and them actually moving is very short – but it does take a certain (tiny) amount of time for the signal to travel from brain to limb etc. You do “think” about moving them but I guess it is a subconscious action, so another part of brain deals with this, not your conscious “thinking” mind.
  
  Maybe we need a proper biologist to answer this one?!
- Laura Maliszewski answered on 18 Jun 2010:
  
  You have two parts of your nervous system, one you consciously control and one that runs on auto pilot.
  
  When you think of moving or picking something up or talking, you use the conscious one. When you breath or walk or perform other basic functions without thinking, it’s via the automatic one.
- Lily Asquith answered on 19 Jun 2010:
  
  The way I understand it, it is not quite immediately. It is just very, very quick.
  
  On the other hand, recent (contraversial research) has suggested that our brains tell our hands to do something BEFORE we expereince th urge to do it!!
  
  This raises the question of whether we have `free will’ at all.
  
  I was reading about this recently in a book called “13 Things That Don’t Make Sense” by Michael Brooks. Brilliant book, blew my mind.
- Mark Roberts answered on 21 Jun 2010:
  
  That’s because your brain / nervous system is able to do things without concious thought – a good example of that is the way you retract your arm if you feel pain on your hand.
  
  So your body is capable of moving without thinking
- Sarah Bardsley answered on 21 Jun 2010:
  
  Our nervous system controls movement in the body. Its a special network of cells called neurons which can carry electrical signals. The brain, eyes and spinal cord are also involved as well as muscles which carry out movement. Its essentially a high speed communication system, responding instantly to what you want to do. We would not be able to survive without it!

Question: how come our hands do what we want them to do immediantly without us thinking about it.

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