Sympathetic nervous system

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  • major reference

    human nervous system: Sympathetic nervous system
    The sympathetic nervous system normally functions to produce localized adjustments (such as sweating as a response to an increase in temperature) and reflex adjustments of the cardiovascular system. Under conditions of stress, however, the entire sympathetic nervous system is activated, producing an immediate, widespread response called the fight-or-flight response. This response is...
  • autonomic nervous system

    autonomic nervous system
    ...system that controls and regulates the internal organs without any conscious recognition or effort by the organism. The autonomic nervous system comprises two antagonistic sets of nerves, the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. The sympathetic nervous system connects the internal organs to the brain by spinal nerves. When stimulated, these nerves prepare the organism for...
    • body temperature

      human nervous system: Temperature regulation
      The sympathetic system is the most important part of the nervous system for controlling body temperature. On a long-term basis, when the climate is cold, the sympathetic system produces heat by its control of certain fat cells called brown adipose tissue. From these cells, fatty acids are released, and heat is produced by their chemical breakdown.
    • laughter

      humour (human behaviour): Patterns of association
    • psychogalvanic reflex

      psychogalvanic reflex (PGR)
      The PGR is mediated by the sympathetic division of the autonomic nervous system. It is a part of the general arousal or activation pattern of physiological responses that mobilizes and fits the person for effective reaction in an emergency. In addition, parts of the brain’s premotor cerebral cortex appear to have a role in producing it. The consensus is that the PGR is associated with...
  • cardiac muscle

    muscle: The frequency of contraction innervated by sympathetic and parasympathetic nerves, which have a profound effect on the resting potential and the rate of diastolic depolarization in the SA nodal region. The activity of the sympathetic nervous system may be increased by the activation of the sympathetic nerves innervating the heart or by the secretion of epinephrine and norepinephrine from the adrenal gland. This...
  • cardiovascular system

    human cardiovascular system: Nervous control of the heart
    Nervous control of the heart is maintained by the parasympathetic fibres in the vagus nerve (parasympathetic) and by the sympathetic nerves. The vagus nerve is the cardiac inhibitor, and the sympathetic nerves are the cardiac excitors. Stimulation of the vagus nerve depresses the rate of impulse formation and atrial contractility and thereby reduces cardiac output and slows the rate of the...
  • drugs

    • interaction

      drug: Autonomic nervous system drugs
      ...processes of the glands, large internal organs, cardiac muscle, and blood vessels. It is divided functionally and anatomically into the sympathetic and the parasympathetic systems, which are associated with the fight-or-flight response or with rest and energy conservation, respectively.
    • role of catecholamine

      Under ordinary circumstances, more epinephrine than norepinephrine is released from the adrenal medulla. In contrast, more norepinephrine is released from the sympathetic nervous system elsewhere in the body. In physiological terms, a major action of the hormones of the adrenal medulla and the sympathetic nervous system is to initiate a rapid, generalized fight-or-flight response. This...
  • human digestive system

    human digestive system: Salivary glands
    ...nervous system, the sympathetic and the parasympathetic. The parasympathetic nerve supply regulates secretion by the acinar cells and causes the blood vessels to dilate. Functions regulated by the sympathetic nerves include secretion by the acinar cells, constriction of blood vessels, and, presumably, contraction of the myoepithelial cells. Normally secretion of saliva is constant, regardless...
  • human excretory system

    renal system (anatomy): Blood and nerve supplies
    The nerves to the urinary bladder belong to the sympathetic and the parasympathetic divisions of the autonomic nervous system. The sympathetic nerve fibres come from the hypogastric plexus of nerves that lie in front of the fifth lumbar vertebra. Sympathetic nerves carry to the central nervous system the sensations associated with distention of the bladder and are believed to be involved in...
    renal system (anatomy): Intrarenal blood pressures blood flow. Evidence indicates that in the kidneys the greater part of the total resistance occurs in the glomerular arterioles. The muscular coats of the arterioles are well supplied with sympathetic vasoconstrictor fibres (nerve fibres that induce narrowing of the blood vessels), and there is also a small parasympathetic supply from the vagus and splanchnic nerves that induces...
    renal system (anatomy): The bladder
    ...channels convey impulses from stretch receptors in the bladder wall to higher centres, permitting cognizance of the state of distension of the organ and stimulating the desire to micturate. (2) The sympathetic nerves stimulate closure of the ureteric and internal urethral orifices and contraction of the internal sphincter, and their action on the detrusor is inhibitory; i.e., the effect...
  • respiratory systems

    human respiratory system: Blood vessels, lymphatic vessels, and nerves
    The pleurae, the airways, and the vessels are innervated by afferent and efferent fibres of the autonomic nervous system. Parasympathetic nerve fibres from the vagus nerve (10th cranial nerve) and sympathetic branches of the sympathetic nerve trunk meet around the stem bronchi to form the pulmonary autonomic nerve plexus, which penetrates into the lung along the bronchial and vascular walls....
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