The autonomic nervous system (ANS) therefore steps in when a threat is detected and sends messages to your body, making it ready for action which is what we know as the fight or flight response. It does this as there is no need for energy reserves if the encounter may potentially leave you dead. The fight or flight response allows you to call on energy and strength to deal with the situation regardless of whether you choose to run away or stay and fight. Your body activates the fight or flight response so you can either fight the animal or run away (flight). Imagine you are in a forest and you come across a fierce animal which is ready to attack you. The fight or flight response has evolved to help us survive threatening situations. The release of adrenaline is part of the fight or flight response. When adrenaline is released, it activates the heart, making it beat faster ready for action. It’s other functions include breathing, digestion and it is the main link between the brain and the endocrine system which is a set of glands that release hormones into the blood stream. Therefore the autonomic nervous system (ANS) is the part of the nervous system which helps us react quickly and strongly to emergency situations. The parasympathetic division allows the body to store up energy when we are not “under threat”.This is activated when an individual feels “under threat”. The sympathetic division sets off arousal, which can be mild like a feeling of anxiety, or extreme such as the fight or flight response.The autonomic nervous system (ANS) is split into two divisions: the sympathetic and the parasympathetic divisions. It deals with many different emotions we feel, responds to threats and is also involved in major changes to the body such as during puberty or pregnancy. The autonomic nervous system reacts more slowly because it is concerned with moods and feelings. In short, this is what allows us to feel and move. It also receives instructions from the central nervous system for big movements or small reactions to stimuli. The somatic nervous system collects information from both the outside world and our internal organs and passes this on to the central nervous system. The two sections of the peripheral nervous system are the the somatic system (SNS) and the autonomic nervous system (ANS). Thinking, memory, decision-making and language are all part of the central nervous system as it also contains our store of knowledge, habits and other forms of learning allowing us to combine past experience with current situations to make relevant decisions. The central nervous system coordinates incoming sensory information and responds to it by sending appropriate instructions to other parts of the nervous system.
The different divisions of the nervous system all have different functions. The ANS uses information from our internal organs to coordinate our general physiological functioning while also responding directly to information such as stressful or emotional events. The autonomic nervous system (ANS) is a network of special nerves which also take information to and from the CNS but does so more slowly as the nerve fibres are not myelinated. The nerve fibres pass information to and from the CNS using sensory and motor neurons that are myelinated (covered with a myelin sheath which is a fatty wrapping), which helps the messages travel faster. The somatic nervous system is a network of nerve fibres running throughout the body, and sense receptors such as those in our skin, muscles and internal organs. The peripheral nervous system consists of two sections which are the somatic nervous system (SNS) and the autonomic nervous system (ANS). The peripheral nervous system (PNS) collects information from, and sends information to, different parts of the human body. It consists of the brain and the spinal cord. The central nervous system coordinates incoming information and makes decisions about movement or other activities. The first division is between the central nervous system (CNS) and the peripheral nervous system (PNS). As the nervous system is very complicated with many different functions, it is practical to divide it into sections to better understand how it works. The nervous system is an extremely complex network of nerve fibres and nerve cells that pass information around the body (see model below outlining this).
Hebb’s theory of learning and neuronal growth.Synaptic transmission: release and re-uptake of neurotransmitters.
The divisions of the human nervous system.The structure and function of the nervous system.