Nervous system is broadly divided into two. One is called somatic nervous system, while the other is called autonomic nervous system.
As the names indicate somatic nervous system is concerned with the voluntary actions while the autonomic nervous system is concerned with the actions that are involuntary and that’s why it is called autonomic.
Here in this post we are going to describe autonomic nervous system and then we would provide you with autonomic nervous system pdf that would help you to learn the topic in much great detail. Also i would provide you with autonomic nervous system ppt that you can download and use for your presentation.
Autonomic Nervous System Overview:
Basically nervous system is divided into central and peripheral nervous systems. The peripheral part of the nervous system is then divided into sensory and motor parts.
The sensory part is concerned with afferent impulses towards the Central nervous system.
While the motor part is then further divided to somatic nervous system and autonomic nervous system.
The somatic nervous system is related to the voluntary actions while the autonomic (as the name indicated) is concerned with involuntary actions.
The autonomic nervous system (which was also called vegetative nervous system formally) is the one that controls all of you internal organs (viscera) without your will and you cannot control it. Like you heart beats 24 hours a day and you cannot stop it to do so. Same is the case with your GIT contractions and hormones secretion and much more.
Divisions of Autonomic Nervous System:
As we have explained the divisions of central nervous system in great detail, it doesn’t ends on somatic and autonomic. The autonomic nervous system is further composed of sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system.
We have already written a detailed post on the differences between sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. And another one on those drugs that are the agonists of parasympathetic nervous system.
You can read the from the links above but here we will give a brief description of both again in case you don’t have the time to read the complete guide.
So, the sympathetic division of the autonomic nervous system is concerned with the flight or fight situations. Which means that it is activated when the body is in stress. But still for normal hemostasis, it is active constantly. It arises only from the spinal nerves from the thoraco-lumber region.
While on the other hand the parasympathetic nervous system is that division of the autonomic nervous system which regulates most of the functions at rest. Therefore it is also called “rest and digest” or “feed and breed”. Contrary to sympathetic system which arises only from the spinal part, the parasympathetic nervous system arises both from cranial as well as spinal nerves.
So, this was the basic concept and we listed few basic differences between sympathetic and parasympathatic. For detailed difference between both, visit the link above or download the pdf below.
Autonomic Nervous System PDF:
You can download the autonomic nervous system pdf file (that contains a very detailed guide about the autonomic nervous system which would help to learn everything about it) below.
Autonomic Nervous System PPT:
If you are looking for a power point presentation for autonomic nervous system for your presentation or for a quick review for exams etc then download autonomic nervous system ppt free below.
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