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The Peripheral Nervous System

6 April, 2016 - 17:26

The peripheral nervous system (PNS) is the connection between the central nervous system and the rest of the body. The PNS can be broken down into the autonomic nervous system, which controls bodily functions without conscious control, and the sensory-somatic nervous system, which transmits sensory information from the skin, muscles, and sensory organs to the CNS and sends motor commands from the CNS to the muscles.

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Figure 16.24 In the autonomic nervous system, a preganglionic neuron (originating in the CNS) synapses to a neuron in a ganglion that, in turn, synapses on a target organ. Activation of the sympathetic nervous system causes release of norepinephrine on the target organ. Activation of the parasympathetic nervous system causes release of acetylcholine on the target organ.
Description

The autonomic nervous system serves as the relay between the CNS and the internal organs. It controls the lungs, the heart, smooth muscle, and exocrine and endocrine glands. The autonomic nervous system controls these organs largely without conscious control; it can continuously monitor the conditions of these different systems and implement changes as needed. Signaling to the target tissue usually involves two synapses: a preganglionic neuron (originating in the CNS) synapses to a neuron in a ganglion that, in turn, synapses on the target organ (Figure 16.24). There are two divisions of the autonomic nervous system that often have opposing effects: the sympathetic nervous system and the parasympathetic nervous system.

The sympathetic nervous systemis responsible for the immediate responses an animal makes when it encounters a dangerous situation. One way to remember this is to think of the “fight-or-flight” response a person feels when encountering a snake (“snake” and “sympathetic” both begin with “s”). Examples of functions controlled by the sympathetic nervous system include an accelerated heart rate and inhibited digestion. These functions help prepare an organism’s body for the physical strain required to escape a potentially dangerous situation or to fend off a predator.

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Figure 16.25 The sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems often have opposing effects on target organs.

While the sympathetic nervous system is activated in stressful situations, the parasympathetic nervous system allows an animal to “rest and digest.” One way to remember this is to think that during a restful situation like a picnic, the parasympathetic nervous system is in control (“picnic” and “parasympathetic” both start with “p”). Parasympathetic preganglionic neurons have cell bodies located in the brainstem and in the sacral (toward the bottom) spinal cord (Figure 16.25). The parasympathetic nervous system resets organ function after the sympathetic nervous system is activated including slowing of heart rate, lowered blood pressure, and stimulation of digestion.

The sensory-somatic nervous system is made up of cranial and spinal nerves and contains both sensory and motor neurons. Sensory neurons transmit sensory information from the skin, skeletal muscle, and sensory organs to the CNS. Motor neurons transmit messages about desired movement from the CNS to the muscles to make them contract. Without its sensory-somatic nervous system, an animal would be unable to process any information about its environment (what it sees, feels, hears, and so on) and could not control motor movements. Unlike the autonomic nervous system, which usually has two synapses between the CNS and the target organ, sensory and motor neurons usually have only one synapse—one ending of the neuron is at the organ and the other directly contacts a CNS neuron.