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.
-The "rest and digest" activities of the body are controlled by the parasympathetic division of the autonomic nervous system.
-Some of the organs involved include the following:
--Salivary or parotid glands (facial nerve (VII) and glossopharyngeal nerve (IX)): control of salivary secretions
--Stomach (vagus nerve (X)): secretion of digestive juices and enzymes
--Small and large intestines (vagus nerve (X)): absorption, secretion, and flow of substances
--Pancreas (vagus nerve (X)): secretion of exocrine and endocrine glands
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 noticed that her heart was beating fast, she had goosebumps, and her heads were sweaty. How would you explain these effects?
These effects can be explained through the "flight or flight" response elicited by the sympathetic nervous system. The experience of narrowly avoiding an accident forms the sensation of fear, which results from physical and emotional stress. This then triggers the sympathetic nervous system to activate the "fight or flight response". This then brings about physiological changes, such as an increase in heart rate, elevated blood pressure, contraction of the arrector pili muscles of the skin leading to goosebumps, and stimulation of sweat glands leading to sweaty palms.
References:
Tortora, G. J., & Derrickson, B. H. (2014). Principles of anatomy and physiology. John Wiley & Sons.