Autonomic nervous system

Your autonomic nervous system. Part of your endocrine system. It’s responsible for sending neurotransmitters to your body to set certain action. It is divided in two main divisions. Sympathetic and parasympathetic. The sns or the sympathetic system is known to be a fight or flight response. [Meaning your life feels as if you need to run for your life.

The autonomic nervous system has many functions. The parasympathetic system performs basic housekeeping and controls things when you are at rest. The sympathetic system is the emergency system and helps you carry out life-saving flight or fight responses.

Autonomic nervous system

The parasympathetic system

Many nerves of the parasympathetic portion of the autonomic nervous system begin in the nuclei in your brainstem. From there, they travel through cranial nerves such as the vagus nerve which slows the heart rate, or the oculomotor nerve, which constricts the pupil of the eye. Parasympathetic stimulation also causes your eyes to tear and your mouth to salivate.

Other parasympathetic nerves terminate in the walls of thoracic and abdominal organs like the esophagus, gastrointestinal tract, pharynx, heart, pancreas, gallbladder, kidney, and ureter. The sacral parasympathetic nerves synapse in ganglia in the walls of the colon, bladder, and other pelvic organs.

The Sympathetic

Sympathetic fibers of the autonomic nervous system exit the lateral (side) part of your spinal cord. They receive information from parts of the brain such as the brainstem and the hypothalmus.

Fibers run from synapses in ganglia just outside the spinal column to their targets, usually along blood vessels. For example, the sympathetic nerves that dilate your pupils exit the spinal cord in your neck and synapse in the ganglion called the superior sympathetic ganglion, they then run along the carotid artery to your face and eye. The sympathetic nervous system supplies nerves to the abdominal and pelvic visceral organs, as well as hair follicles, sweat glands, and more.

Most of the time, your autonomic nervous system works very well. However, the fight or flight response may become activated with small everyday stresses, releasing a lot of the stress hormone cortisol and driving your blood pressure and heart rate up unnecessarily. For most of us, the autonomic nervous system is generally out of our conscious control. In the brainstem, the nucleus tractus solitarius is the main command center for the autonomic nervous system, sending input largely through cranial nerves IX and X. The cerebral cortex of your brain, normally associated with conscious thought, can change your autonomic nervous system to some degree—usually involuntarily, but sometimes voluntarily. In the cerebral cortex, the insula, anterior cingulate cortex, substantia innominata, amygdala, and ventromedial prefrontal cortex are areas that help you understand the events that are going on around you, as well as your emotions. These regions communicate with your hypothalamus to impact the actions of your autonomic nervous system.

Learn about your body, try excercises that help stimulate the vagus nerve instead of depending on medication. Stimulating the vagus nerve helps the body feel “safe.” A lot of times oir everyday stresses is usually trting to get through the day without stress. Sometimes its managable, but this is life so we’re nit always prepared. Little uces will help you regulate your ans from going bezerk on the body. Be gentle wuth yourself always, Im not a licensed medical professional,but let’s be honest I might as well be. Sometimes we just need someone to be as real with you all. Although medication can be good and helpful, many times it will cause worse symptoms. Eat healthy, drink you water, drink your tea’s!! Be grateful to be alive. Have a wonderful day.

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