Video transcript
We can think of the nervous system as split up into two other parts. There's going to be an autonomic nervous system branch. And as the name kind of sounds like, this is your automatic control. That's the involuntary parts that we talked about from above. Beside that, there's also going to be a control that we exert. And so that's going to be called the somatic nervous system. So that's something that we control, somatic nervous system. Underneath the autonomic classification, you can break this up into two other parts. One is called the sympathetic nervous system. And we sort of alluded to that above when we were talking about the sympathetic ganglia that were part of involuntary control. In addition, we also have a parasympathetic nervous system that sort of sits in a checks-and-balances position with the sympathetic nervous system. And that's how we break this up. The somatic nervous system is just the somatic nervous system. So it has just sort of one function, and it's trying to control voluntary muscle. So the neurotransmitter that we use here, which you may recall-- and I'll put this in parentheses-- is acetylcholine. And we abbreviate that ACh for acetylcholine. What about the neurotransmitters that are used by the sympathetic and the parasympathetic nervous system? We actually sort of know them already, at least for the sympathetic nervous system. And we can come up with it. And the way you know them is if you think about what the sympathetic nervous system does. Because I'm sure you've heard of this phrase called your fight and flight response. Fight or flight. And so that's when you're in a dire situation and your body senses, uh-oh, I may die at any second now. I need to do something to get out of here. And so you activate the sympathetic nervous system so that you can achieve fight or flight. You start pumping adrenaline through your body, and you get your heart to beat faster so you can pump more oxygen to your legs to help you run quicker and get away. So that's fight or flight. And so I mentioned adrenaline, which is an endocrine hormone that's secreted to help with this. But it also has a neurotransmitter friend that does the same thing. And so the neurotransmitter friend that I'm going to write up here, it's not adrenaline, but it's noradrenaline. Starts with an N. And another term for that is norepinephrine. I'll write it out. Norepinephrine. Or noradrenaline. And so that's the neurotransmitter that's used by the sympathetic nervous system. What about the parasympathetic nervous system? Well, oddly enough it actually uses the same one that the somatic nervous system does. And the way that you can sort of differentiate this from the sympathetic nervous system is that, while the sympathetic nervous system is for the super, hardcore, intense moments where it's fight or flight, the parasympathetic nervous system is a little more chill. This is for rest and digest. So when you're going to sleep and you're trying to relax so your heart rate can lessen and your muscles and your heart aren't contracting as quickly. Or if you just ate a big meal and you need to digest that food, the parasympathetic nervous system will tell the stomach to churn that food up so you could digest it in your intestines as you also propel it along with the smooth muscle in there. So that's achieved by acetylcholine. All right? So that's the two major divisions of the central nervous system, autonomic and somatic.
The peripheral nervous system includes both a voluntary, somatic branch and an involuntary branch that regulates visceral functions. Learning Objectives
- Identify the differences between the somatic and autonomic nervous systems
Key Points
- The somatic nervous system (SoNS) is the part of the peripheral nervous system associated with the voluntary control of body movements through the skeletal muscles and mediation of involuntary reflex arcs.
- The autonomic nervous system (ANS) is the part of the peripheral nervous system that controls visceral functions that occur below the level of consciousness.
- The ANS can be subdivided into the parasympathetic nervous system (PSNS) and the sympathetic nervous system (SNS).
Key Terms
- peripheral nervous system: Consists of the nerves and ganglia outside of the brain and spinal cord.
- autonomic: Acting or occurring involuntarily, without conscious control.
- somatic nervous system: The part of the peripheral nervous system that transmits signals from the central nervous system to skeletal muscles, and from receptors of external stimuli, thereby mediating sight, hearing, and touch.
EXAMPLES
Examples of body processes controlled by the ANS include heart rate, digestion, respiratory rate, salivation, perspiration, pupillary dilation, urination, and sexual arousal.
The peripheral nervous system (PNS) is divided into the somatic nervous system and the autonomic nervous system. The somatic nervous system (SoNS) is the part of the peripheral nervous system associated with the voluntary control of body movements via skeletal muscles.
The SoNS consists of efferent nerves responsible for stimulating muscle contraction, including all the non-sensory neurons connected with skeletal muscles and skin. The somatic nervous system controls all voluntary muscular systems within the body, and also mediates involuntary reflex arcs. The somatic nervous system consists of three parts:
The human nervous system: The major organs and nerves of the human nervous system.
- Spinal nerves are peripheral nerves that carry motor commands and sensory information into the spinal cord.
- Cranial nerves are the nerve fibers that carry information into and out of the brain stem. They include information related to smell, vision, eyes, eye muscles, the mouth, taste, ears, the neck, shoulders, and the tongue.
- Association nerves integrate sensory input and motor output; these nerves number in the thousands.
The autonomic nervous system (ANS) is the part of the peripheral nervous system that acts as a control system, functioning largely below the level of consciousness and controlling visceral functions. The ANS affects heart rate, digestion, respiratory rate, salivation, perspiration, pupillary dilation, micturition (urination), and sexual arousal.
Whereas most of its actions are involuntary, some, such as breathing, work in tandem with the conscious mind. The ANS is classically divided into two subsystems: the parasympathetic nervous system (PSNS) and sympathetic nervous system (SNS).
The enteric nervous system is sometimes considered part of the autonomic nervous system, and sometimes considered an independent system.