The Blood Vessel, Brain, and Immune System Connections
Mark C Houston in The Truth About Heart Disease, 2023
You have heard about the “flight or fight reaction” or the “rest and relax reaction”. These opposing reactions are related to the three distinct and major parts of the autonomic nervous system (ANS), called the “sympathetic nervous system” (SNS), the “parasympathetic nervous system” (PNS), and the “enteric nervous system” (ENS) (related to our gut) (Figure 14.1). The SNS and PNS systems oppose each other to give us a balance that is important to regulate the brain and entire nervous system with the arteries, heart, endocrine system, gut, and immune system. This internal communication is very important. If any of the SNS, PNS, or ENS predominates, it can lead to many cardiovascular problems and diseases. The autonomic nervous system is a component of the peripheral nervous system that regulates involuntary processes of our physiology and daily functions, including heart rate, blood pressure, respiration, digestion, and sexual arousal (Table 14.1).
Introduction: Background Material
Nassir H. Sabah in Neuromuscular Fundamentals, 2020
The nervous system is divided into the peripheral nervous system (PNS) and the central nervous system (CNS). The central nervous system consists of the brain, enclosed by the skull, or cranium, and the spinal cord, enclosed by the vertebral column. The peripheral nervous system, being the rest of the nervous system outside the brain and spinal cord, mainly comprises: Neuronal aggregations referred to as ganglia.Sensory cells and receptors that respond to external stimuli or to changes in the internal state of the body.Nerve fibers found outside the brain and the spinal cord.
Biological Basis of Behavior
Mohamed Ahmed Abd El-Hay in Understanding Psychology for Medicine and Nursing, 2019
The peripheral nervous system (PNS) contains sensory, motor, and autonomic fibers outside of the CNS, including the spinal nerves, the cranial nerves, and the peripheral ganglia. The PNS carries sensory information to the CNS and motor information away from the CNS. The somatic nervous system (SNS) is the division of the PNS associated with skeletal muscle voluntary control of body movements and involuntary reflex arcs. The SNS consists of the efferent nerves responsible for stimulating muscle contractions, including all the non-sensory neurons connected with the skeletal muscles and skin. The somatic nervous system consists of three types of nerve fibers: (1) spinal nerves that carry motor commands and sensory information to the spinal cord; (2) cranial nerves that carry information into and out of the brain stem; and (3) association nerves that integrate sensory input and motor output.
Somatosensory Information in Skilled Motor Performance: A Narrative Review
Published in Journal of Motor Behavior, 2023
Tyler T. Whittier, Christopher M. Patrick, Brett W. Fling
Combining the sensory information from multiple sensory types provides a more accurate understanding for where body parts are as they execute different motor tasks. Furthermore, it is believed that the human upper limb contains roughly 4,000 muscle spindles, each containing multiple afferent axons, 2,500 Golgi tendon organs, a few hundred joint receptors and almost 20,000 myelinated neurons with cutaneous receptors solely located on the surface of the hand (Hulliger, 1984; Johansson & Vallbo, 1979; Prochazka et al., 1977). In a recent finding, Gesslbauer et al. (2017) examined the human brachial plexus, the neural bundle containing all nerve cells responsible for sensing and controlling arm and hand movements. The authors discovered that of the almost 350,000 axons found in the brachial plexus, ninety-three percent were sensory axons leaving the remaining seven percent to communicate the motor information needed to control movements. Thus, by collecting multi-faceted sensory data from numerous locations throughout the involved limbs and joints, the CNS gains the greatest insight on the true state of the body. In combination with the energetic evidence that illustrates the priority placed on the acquisition of quality sensory information, the structure of the peripheral nervous system further implies the importance of the amount of sensory data available to the CNS in the control of movement.
Body fat and muscle in relation to heart rate variability in young-to-middle age men: a cross sectional study
Published in Annals of Human Biology, 2023
Selma Cvijetic, Jelena Macan, Dario Boschiero, Jasminka Z. Ilich
The autonomic nervous system (ANS) regulates a number of physiological processes and its actions are largely involuntary. It is functionally divided into the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) and parasympathetic nervous system (PNS), acting opposingly to complement each other (Svorc 2018). The SNS and PNS release neurotransmitters that bind to the appropriate receptors on the cells, resulting in different biological effects (McCorry 2007). Both SNS and PNS regulate heart rate variability (HRV – the variance in time between heart beats), sending opposing signals for faster or slower beats, respectively (Svorc 2018). Therefore, HRV is commonly used as an indicator of ANS activity with sympathetic and parasympathetic activity modifying the heart rate intervals at distinct frequencies and in opposing manners (Tokić 2016; Shaffer and Ginsberg 2017). The HRV refers to the heart’s capability to react to various physiological and environmental influences, with lower HRV generally indicating a poorer autonomic function and reduced capacity of the body to deal with different stressors (Tracey 2007; Shaffer and Ginsberg 2017; Kim et al. 2018).
Evaluation of Pupillometric Parameters in Patients with COVID-19
Published in Ocular Immunology and Inflammation, 2023
Yücel Öztürk, Merve Beyza Yıldız, Rüveyde Bolaç
It was later discovered that COVID-19 affects other systems than the respiratory, including the neurological, gastrointestinal, and cardiovascular systems.3 Neurological symptoms such as anosmia, ageusia, and dizziness have been reported to be involved in 36.4% of SARS-CoV-2-infected patients.4 Central and peripheral nervous system complications have been reported, including cerebral vascular diseases, meningitis, encephalitis, and Guillain-Barré syndrome.5 Case reports of neuro-ophthalmologic involvement such as vision loss, optic neuritis, Miller Fisher syndrome, cranial neuropathies, and tonic pupil are also seen in the literature.6–8 To date, the pathophysiology of COVID-19 in the nervous system or ocular tissues is not fully understood.
Related Knowledge Centers
- Central Nervous System
- Nervous System
- Skull
- Spinal Cord
- Vertebral Column
- Brain
- Ganglion
- Nerve
- Limb
- Blood–Brain Barrier