The autonomic nervous system is involved in many unconscious behaviors that are
ID: 3481057 • Letter: T
Question
The autonomic nervous system is involved in many unconscious behaviors that are important in life. You are to discuss the reciprocal nature of the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system as they relate to specific behaviors. Some of the behaviors that you could learn and discuss include thermoregulation—heat and cold, hunger, satiety, thirst, sexual responses, vision, respiration, galvanic skin responses, heart rate, startle, sleep, and so on. These systems are very much involved in almost all activities. Explain to us what you learned about one response and what the roles of the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems do in the behavior. The autonomic nervous system is involved in many unconscious behaviors that are important in life. You are to discuss the reciprocal nature of the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system as they relate to specific behaviors. Some of the behaviors that you could learn and discuss include thermoregulation—heat and cold, hunger, satiety, thirst, sexual responses, vision, respiration, galvanic skin responses, heart rate, startle, sleep, and so on. These systems are very much involved in almost all activities. Explain to us what you learned about one response and what the roles of the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems do in the behavior.Explanation / Answer
The sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems act antagonistic to each other at many of the effector organs to maintain homeostasis. However, they are produce cooperative responses during certain physiological responses.
Antagonistic activity of sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems:
During allergic reactions, excess activity of the parasympathetic nervous system causes decreased blood pressure, heart rate, increased fluid secretions and difficulty in breathing.
To restore the normal homeostatic conditions, the sympathetic division of the ANS will be activated which causes increased heart rate and blood pressure, relaxation of respiratory smooth muscles and decreased fluid secretion. The activity of parasympathetic division is reduced to normalise the blood flow and blood pressure.
Cooperative activity of sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems:
During the sexual activity, both the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems are active. The increase in blood flow needed for ejaculation is aided by the stimulation of parasympathetic stimulation (causes vasodilatation).
And sexual arousal needs sympathetic activation, which includes increase heart rate, increased blood supply and availability of energy levels also.
The sympathetic antagonists used in the treatment of hypertension supress the sympathetic stimulation, which may cause erectile dysfunction.
Complementary action of sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system:
The salivary glands receive both the sympathetic and parasympathetic innervation. The stimulation of sympathetic neurons cause vasoconstriction and reduce the blood flow to the salivary glands, which results in production of thicker saliva. While the stimulation of parasympathetic neurons result in the production of watery saliva.
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