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The Autonomic Nervous System: Peripheral and Central Integrative Aspects

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Comprehensive Human Physiology

Abstract

Regulation of the internal environment (milieu intérieur) of the body was recognized by Claude Bernard as the essential condition for “free and independent life.” The tendency for processes to maintain a steady state in the body led Cannon to coin the term “homeostasis” (see Chap. 2). Cannon further proposed that the autonomic nervous system (particularly the sympathetic division; see below) played an important role in the maintenance of homeostasis, through its action on tissues of the body [12]. The autonomic nervous system itself was described around the beginning of the twentieth century, principally by Gaskell and Langley and their co-workers. The term “autonomic nervous system” was first used by Langley in 1898, and writing in 1921 [49] he states that ‘the word “autonomic” does suggest a much greater degree of independence of the central nervous system than in fact exists.’ Indeed, it has long been realized that the autonomic nervous system is under the regulation of centers in the brain, notably the hypothalamus. As defined, the autonomic nervous system is a motor system.

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Authors
  1. K. A. Sharkey
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  2. Q. J. Pittman
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Physiologisches Institut, Universität Freiburg, Hermann-Herder-Str. 7, 79104, Freiburg, Germany

    Rainer Greger

  2. Faculty of Medicine, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Calgary, 3330 Hospital Drive N.W., T2N 4N1, Calgary, Alberta, Canada

    Uwe Windhorst

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Sharkey, K.A., Pittman, Q.J. (1996). The Autonomic Nervous System: Peripheral and Central Integrative Aspects. In: Greger, R., Windhorst, U. (eds) Comprehensive Human Physiology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-60946-6_18

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