Activity 3
Answer the following questions in the discussion forum:
1. You have been to an ‘eat all you can’ buffet and have consumed large amounts of food. After returning home, you recline on the couch to watch television. Which division of the nervous system will be handling your body’s after-dinner activities? List several organs involved, the major nerve supply to each organ, and the effects of the nervous system on their functions.
2. Your friend is driving home from work, listening to her favorite music, when suddenly a bicycle comes out of nowhere. She manages to swerve avoiding hitting the bicycle. She continued to drive home but she noticed that her heart was beating fast, she had goosebumps, and her head was sweaty. How would you explain these effects?
The sudden appearance of the bicycle triggered my friend’s fight or flight response in accordance with the stress built up from a possible life-taking situation. The responsible division in the nervous system to trigger such a response is the sympathetic nervous system. From this, the adrenaline hormone is released in the bloodstream that therefore affected her heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing rate to increase and help her cope with the stress.