Autonomic nervous system regulation

Fetotoxicity Cocaine exposure in utero may have a direct effect on autonomic nervous system regulation, cardiac control mechanisms, and cardiovascular functioning in neonates [33 ]. In 21 prenatally cocaine-exposed infants and 23 non-exposed controls, studied within 120 hours of birth, there was a positive interaction between prenatal cocaine exposure and orthostatic stress. Whereas both exposed and non-exposed infants had increased heart rates and heart rate variability, the responses of the exposed... 

The locus cemleus is important for the regulation of attentional states and autonomic nervous system activity. It has also been implicated in the autonomic and stress-like effects of opiate withdrawal. A noradrenergic pathway originating from the locus cemleus which descends into the spinal cord is part of the descending inhibitory control system, which has an inhibitory effect on nociceptive transmission in the dorsal horn. 

The hypothalamus plays a particularly important role in regulating the autonomic nervous system, which innervates cardiac muscle, smooth muscle, and glands. Many of these effects involve ascending or descending... 

Explain how various regions of the central nervous system regulate autonomic nervous system function... 

The autonomic nervous system (ANS), also known as the visceral or involuntary nervous system, functions below the level of consciousness. Because it innervates cardiac muscle, smooth muscle, and various endocrine and exocrine glands, this nervous system influences the activity of most of the organ systems in the body. Therefore, it is evident that the ANS makes an important contribution to the maintenance of homeostasis. Regulation of blood pressure gastrointestinal responses to food contraction of the urinary bladder focusing of the eyes and thermoregulation are just a few of the many... 

Although skeletal muscle comprises the bulk of muscle tissue in the body, smooth muscle is far more important in terms of homeostasis. Most smooth muscle is found in the walls of tubes and hollow organs. Contraction and relaxation of the smooth muscle in these tissues regulates the movement of substances within them. For example, contraction of the smooth muscle in the wall of a blood vessel narrows the diameter of the vessel and leads to a decrease in the flow of blood through it. Contraction of the smooth muscle in the wall of the stomach exerts pressure on its contents and pushes these substances forward into the small intestine. Smooth muscle functions at a subconscious level and is involuntary. It is innervated by the autonomic nervous system, which regulates its activity. 

Porges, S. W. 1996. Emotion An evolutionary by-product of the neural regulation of the autonomic nervous system. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, in press. 

The intermediate length systems include the tuberoinfundibular system, which projects from the arcuate and periventricular nuclei into the intermediate lobe of the pituitary and the median eminence. This system is responsible for the regulation of such hormones as prolactin. The inter hypothalamic neurons send projections to the dorsal and posterior hypothalamus, the lateral septal nuclei and the medullary periventricular group, which are linked to the dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus such projections may play a role in the effects of dopamine on the autonomic nervous system. 

Beside the efferent innervation by the autonomic nervous system there are peripheral afferent sensory fibers which form the autonomic refiex arcs. They play a major role in the transmission of visceral sensations and are responsible for visceral refiexes, for example in the autonomic regulation of the blood pressure. 

In general terms, the function of the autonomic nervous system is to maintain the constancy of the internal environment (homeostasis). This includes the regulation of the cardiovascular system, digestion, body... 

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