The central nervous system consists of the brain and spinal cord. The brain is divided into the telencephalon, diencephalon, mesencephalon, and rhombencephalon. The central nervous system develops from the neural plate and neural tube during embryogenesis. It contains gray matter, made up of neuron cell bodies, and white matter composed primarily of myelinated axons. The peripheral nervous system connects the central nervous system to the rest of the body.