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Autonomic varicosities

This figure shows the connection between autonomic fibers and the target effectors. The left image shows a slice of smooth muscle with the postganglionic varicosities and the postganglionic axons labeled. The right panel shows a magnified view of the synaptic vesicles, neurotransmitters, and the sarcolemma.
The connection between autonomic fibers and target effectors is not the same as the typical synapse, such as the neuromuscular junction. Instead of a synaptic end bulb, a neurotransmitter is released from swellings along the length of a fiber that makes an extended network of connections in the target effector.

Everyday connections

Fight or flight? what about fright and freeze?

The original usage of the epithet “fight or flight” comes from a scientist named Walter Cannon who worked at Harvard in 1915. The concept of homeostasis and the functioning of the sympathetic system had been introduced in France in the previous century. Cannon expanded the idea, and introduced the idea that an animal responds to a threat by preparing to stand and fight or run away. The nature of this response was thoroughly explained in a book on the physiology of pain, hunger, fear, and rage.

When students learn about the sympathetic system and the fight-or-flight response, they often stop and wonder about other responses. If you were faced with a lioness running toward you as pictured at the beginning of this chapter, would you run or would you stand your ground? Some people would say that they would freeze and not know what to do. So isn’t there really more to what the autonomic system does than fight, flight, rest, or digest. What about fear and paralysis in the face of a threat?

The common epithet of “fight or flight” is being enlarged to be “fight, flight, or fright” or even “fight, flight, fright, or freeze.” Cannon’s original contribution was a catchy phrase to express some of what the nervous system does in response to a threat, but it is incomplete. The sympathetic system is responsible for the physiological responses to emotional states. The name “sympathetic” can be said to mean that (sym- = “together”; -pathos = “pain,” “suffering,” or “emotion”).

Watch this video to learn more about the nervous system. As described in this video, the nervous system has a way to deal with threats and stress that is separate from the conscious control of the somatic nervous system. The system comes from a time when threats were about survival, but in the modern age, these responses become part of stress and anxiety. This video describes how the autonomic system is only part of the response to threats, or stressors. What other organ system gets involved, and what part of the brain coordinates the two systems for the entire response, including epinephrine (adrenaline) and cortisol?

Chapter review

The primary responsibilities of the autonomic nervous system are to regulate homeostatic mechanisms in the body, which is also part of what the endocrine system does. The key to understanding the autonomic system is to explore the response pathways—the output of the nervous system. The way we respond to the world around us, to manage the internal environment on the basis of the external environment, is divided between two parts of the autonomic nervous system. The sympathetic division responds to threats and produces a readiness to confront the threat or to run away: the fight-or-flight response. The parasympathetic division plays the opposite role. When the external environment does not present any immediate danger, a restful mode descends on the body, and the digestive system is more active.

Questions & Answers

What are the factors that affect demand for a commodity
Florence Reply
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Lambiv
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appreciation
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In economics, a perfect market refers to a theoretical construct where all participants have perfect information, goods are homogenous, there are no barriers to entry or exit, and prices are determined solely by supply and demand. It's an idealized model used for analysis,
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AI-Robot
When MP₁ becomes negative, TP start to decline. Extuples Suppose that the short-run production function of certain cut-flower firm is given by: Q=4KL-0.6K2 - 0.112 • Where is quantity of cut flower produced, I is labour input and K is fixed capital input (K-5). Determine the average product of lab
Kelo
Extuples Suppose that the short-run production function of certain cut-flower firm is given by: Q=4KL-0.6K2 - 0.112 • Where is quantity of cut flower produced, I is labour input and K is fixed capital input (K-5). Determine the average product of labour (APL) and marginal product of labour (MPL)
Kelo
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Shukri
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Shukri
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What is different between quantity demand and demand?
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Quantity demanded refers to the specific amount of a good or service that consumers are willing and able to purchase at a give price and within a specific time period. Demand, on the other hand, is a broader concept that encompasses the entire relationship between price and quantity demanded
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Economic growth as an increase in the production and consumption of goods and services within an economy.but Economic development as a broader concept that encompasses not only economic growth but also social & human well being.
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it is a curve that we get after connecting the pareto optimal combinations of two consumers after their mutually beneficial trade offs
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In economics, the contract curve refers to the set of points in an Edgeworth box diagram where both parties involved in a trade cannot be made better off without making one of them worse off. It represents the Pareto efficient allocations of goods between two individuals or entities, where neither p
Cornelius
In economics, the contract curve refers to the set of points in an Edgeworth box diagram where both parties involved in a trade cannot be made better off without making one of them worse off. It represents the Pareto efficient allocations of goods between two individuals or entities,
Cornelius
Suppose a consumer consuming two commodities X and Y has The following utility function u=X0.4 Y0.6. If the price of the X and Y are 2 and 3 respectively and income Constraint is birr 50. A,Calculate quantities of x and y which maximize utility. B,Calculate value of Lagrange multiplier. C,Calculate quantities of X and Y consumed with a given price. D,alculate optimum level of output .
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Answer
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c
Jabir
the market for lemon has 10 potential consumers, each having an individual demand curve p=101-10Qi, where p is price in dollar's per cup and Qi is the number of cups demanded per week by the i th consumer.Find the market demand curve using algebra. Draw an individual demand curve and the market dema
Gsbwnw Reply
suppose the production function is given by ( L, K)=L¼K¾.assuming capital is fixed find APL and MPL. consider the following short run production function:Q=6L²-0.4L³ a) find the value of L that maximizes output b)find the value of L that maximizes marginal product
Abdureman
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Source:  OpenStax, Anatomy & Physiology. OpenStax CNX. Feb 04, 2016 Download for free at http://legacy.cnx.org/content/col11496/1.8
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