AUTONOMIC NERVOUS SYSTEM

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 1. AUTONOMIC NERVOUS SYSTEM AND IT’S
FUNCTION
Autonomic nervous system:
The part of peripheral nervous system that governs unconscious body activities. It is a
complicated network of cells(nerves) that regulates the internal state of the
organism.They are in charge of controlling involuntary physiological activities such as
heartbeat, blood flow, breathing, digestion and reflex behaviour such as coughing,
sneezing, swallowing, and vomiting. It is regulated by hypothalamus. Also called
involuntary or vegetative nervous system.
Autonomic nervous system is a portion of our entire nervous system that governs the
automatic operations of our body that we require to survive. It governs and maintains a
wide range of internal activities, frequently without a person's conscious awareness.
The autonomic nervous system is controlled by reflexes that go from the brainstem to
the spinal cord and organs. These are then segmented further and are connected to
autonomic subsystems and the peripheral nervous system. Just above the brain stem,
the hypothalamus serves as an integrator for autonomic activities, receiving autonomic
regulatory input from the limbic system.
The autonomic nervous system is divided into sympathetic and parasympathetic and
enteric nervous system.

Simply, the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems have opposite actions.
And enteric NS manages how your body digests food.

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 Functions of autonomic nervous nervous system
Autonomic nervous system maintains homeostasis, and regulates internal environment
of human body including:
 Digestion
 Heart rate
 Liver function
 Blood pressure
 Body temperature
 Breathing (respiratory) rate
 Circulatory system
 Regulates Metabolism
 Pancreas function
 Pupillary response
 Sexual response
 Electrolyte balance
 Emotional responses
 Glands of the mouth, nose, and eyes
 Immune system
The ANS is also involved in the following bodily functions:
 Skin, including sweating and the muscles that cause hair on the body to stand up
 Production of body fluids, including sweat and saliva
 Urination and defecation
 sexual responses
 Involuntary actions like sneezing, swallowing or vomiting are also controlled by
the ANS. There is evidence that the autonomic nervous system not only influences
sexual arousal but also plays a crucial role in maintaining pregnancy and inducing
labor. Finally, the autonomic nervous system also changes urinary output and
frequency of micturition.

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 2. DIFFERENTIATE BETWEEN SOMATIC &
AUTNOMIC NERVOUS SYSTEM
Somatic and autonomic nervous system are the two parts of the peripheral nervous
system (PNS). The somatic nervous system is known as the voluntary nervous system
and the autonomic nervous system is known as the involuntary nervous system.
Peripheral nervous system is the nervous system which is outside the brain and spinal
cord. The main function of the PNS is to relay information between the central
nervous system and the effector organs.
Somatic nervous system Autonomic nervous system

It controls the involuntary actions of the It controls the voluntary actions of the
body. body.
It has sensory(afferent) and It has only motor(efferent) pathways
motor(efferent) pathways
It consists of sensory nerves and motor sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous
nerves. systems
Always acts on Skeletal muscle Smooth, cardiac muscle and glands
It controls muscles and movement. It controls internal organs and glands.
Needs one efferent nucleus Needs two nucleus
Performs less complex functions Performs complex functions
Single neurotransmitter and one receptor Multiple neurotransmitter and multiple
receptor
Always causes the excitatory response at It causes the excitatory, or inhibitory
the effector response at the effector
Contains thick myelinated nerve fibers Contains thick and thin myelinated nerve
fibers
At receptor release acetylcholine At receptor release acetylcholine and
norepinephrine
It involves movement and posture. It involves the control of metabolism,
secretion of glands, etc.
No firing at rest Baseline firing-speed up when stimulated

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 3. DIFFERENTIATE BETWEEN SYMPATHETIC &
PARASYMPATHETIC NERVOUS SYSTEM
After the autonomic nervous system receives information about the body and external
environment, it responds by stimulating body processes, usually through the
sympathetic division, or inhibiting them, usually through the parasympathetic division.
The sympathetic nervous system (SNS) and
the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS)
contain both afferent and efferent fibers that
provide sensory input and motor output,
respectively, to the central nervous system
(CNS).Generally, the SNS and PNS motor
pathways consist of a two-neuron series: a
preganglionic neuron with a cell body in the
CNS and a postganglionic neuron with a cell
body in the periphery that innervates target
tissues.

Sympathetic nervous Parasympathetic

system (SNS) nervous system (PNS)
General Body Primarily prepares body for Permits the rest and digest
Response fight-to-fight response. response, control the body’s
feed and breed and also
maintaining homeostasis
Neuron Pathways Very short neurons, faster Longer pathways, slower
system system
Location It located near the thoracic and It is located in between the
lumbar regions in the spinal spinal cord and the medulla.
cord
Function Mobilizes the body for intense Restores the body to go in
physiological action i.e. makes the relax mode by restricting
the body alert, tensed up and the high energy activities.
speeded towards danger.
Urinary Response Increases urinary output Decreases urinary output
Salivary Glands It decreases saliva production. It increases saliva

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 production.
Pupils Dilate pupil Contracts pupil
Cardiovascular
It increases the heartbeat. It decreases the heartbeat.
System (heart rate)
Pulmonary System Bronchial tubes dilate Bronchial tubes constrict
(lungs)
Gastrointestinal Decreases stomach movement Increases stomach movement
System and secretions and secretions

Muscle Cells It increases the stress on It decreases stress and

muscles. relaxes the muscles.
Adrenal Gland Releases adrenaline No involvement
It helps in increasing the
There is no involvement by
Glucose Level glycogen to glucose
the parasympathetic nervous
conversion for the energy
system.
required by muscles.
Outflow Forms thoracolumber outflow Forms craniosacral outflow
Nerves Adregenic Cholinergic
Pre-ganglion fibres Short long
Post-ganglion fibres long Short
Sensory awareness Raises the sensory response Keep the sensory responses
in the normal state

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 4. ROLE OF NEUROTRANSMITTERS AND
RECEPTORS IN ANS TRANSMISSION
Neurotransmitters:
Neurotransmitters are often referred to as the body’s chemical messengers. They are
the molecules used by the nervous system to transmit messages between neurons, or
from neurons to muscles.

Neurotransmitters relay their messages by traveling between cells and attaching to

specific receptors on target cells.

Each neurotransmitter attaches to a different receptor. For example, dopamine

molecules attach to dopamine receptors. When they attach, it triggers an action in the
target cells.

A neurotransmitter influences a neuron in one of three ways: excitatory, inhibitory or

modulatory.
An excitatory transmitter promotes the generation of an electrical signal called
an action potential in the receiving neuron, while an inhibitory transmitter prevents it.
Whether a neurotransmitter is excitatory or inhibitory depends on the receptor it binds
to.

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 How do neurotransmitters work?
It consist of
A cell body, an axon. And An axon terminal.
Neurotransmitters are located in a part of the neuron called the axon terminal. They’re
stored within thin-walled sacs called synaptic vesicles. Each vesicle can contain
thousands of neurotransmitter molecules.
As a message or signal travels along a nerve cell, the electrical charge of the signal
causes the vesicles of neurotransmitters to fuse with the nerve cell membrane at the
very edge of the cell. The neurotransmitters, which now carry the message, are then
released from the axon terminal into a fluid-filled space that’s between one nerve cell
and the next target cell (another nerve cell, muscle cell or gland).
In this space, called the synaptic junction, the neurotransmitters carry the message
across less than 40 nanometers (nm) wide (by comparison, the width of a human hair
is about 75,000 nm). Each type of neurotransmitter lands on and binds to a specific
receptor on the target cell (like a key that can only fit and work in its partner lock).
After binding, the neurotransmitter then triggers a change or action in the target cell,
like an electrical signal in another nerve cell, a muscle contraction or the release of
hormones from a cell in a gland.
ROLE OF RECEPTORS IN ANS TRANSMISSION
Receptors and neurotransmitters act like a lock-and-key system. Just as it takes the
right key to open a specific lock, a neurotransmitter (the key) will only bind to a
specific receptor (the lock). If the neurotransmitter is able to work on the receptor site,
it triggers changes in the receiving cell.
Sometimes neurotransmitters can bind to receptors and cause an electrical signal to be
transmitted down the cell (excitatory). In other cases, the neurotransmitter can actually
block the signal from continuing, preventing the message from being carried on
(inhibitory).