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.
Parasympathetic division (rest and digest) will be handling the body's after-dinner digestion and relaxation. It is responsible for balancing the sympathetic nervous system and supplying back system to its standard activity levels.
Salivary glands
Nerve: Facial (VII) Nerve and Glossopharyngeal (IX) Nerve
Function: stimulates the glands to make more saliva
Esophagus
Nerve: Vagus (X) Nerve
Function: controls peristalsis
Heart
Nerve: Vagus (X) Nerve
Function: decrease heart rate, decreases force of atrial contraction
Lungs
Nerve: Vagus (X) Nerve
Function: tightens airway muscles, controls breathing
Stomach
Nerve: Vagus (X) Nerve
Function: increased motility and relaxation of sphincters
Intestines
Nerve: Vagus (X) Nerve
Function: regulating propulsive colonic motility
Liver
Nerve: Vagus (X) Nerve
Function: increase bile secretion
Pancreas
Nerve: Vagus (X) Nerve
Function: stimulates insulin and digestive enzymes secretion
Gallbladder
Nerve: Vagus (X) Nerve
Function: produces bile in the small intestine
Rectum
Nerve: Pelvic Splanchnic Nerve
Function: responsible for defection and control rectum storage
2. Your friend is driving home from work, listening to her favorite music, when suddenly a bicycle came out of nowhere. She manages to swerve avoiding hitting the bicycle. She continued to drive home but she noticed that her heart is beating fast, she had goose bumps, and her heads were sweaty. How would you explain these effects?
In these cases, the Sympathetic Nervous System upholds these effects. As stressful and dangerous situations occur, the sympathetic nervous system activates to speed up your heart rate, and deliver more blood to areas of your body that need more oxygen or other responses to help your get out of danger. Moreover, it controls "flight-or-flight" responses and conveys signals that put your body's system on alert.
References:
Parasympathetic Nervous System (PSNS): What It Is & Function. (n.d.). Cleveland Clinic. Retrieved October 7, 2022, from https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/body/23266-parasympathetic-nervous-system-psns
Tindle, J., & Tadi, P. (2021, November). Neuroanatomy, Parasympathetic Nervous System. Retrieved October 7, 2022, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK553141/
Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS): What It Is & Function. (n.d.). Cleveland Clinic. Retrieved October 7, 2022, from https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/body/23262-sympathetic-nervous-system-sns-fight-or-flight