Autonomic Nervous System provides an introduction to the latest science and detailed chapters on advances in the clinical diagnosis and treatment of autonomic system disorders. The autonomic nervous system controls all involuntary actions within the human nervous system. Core body functions regulated by the autonomic system include breathing, heartbeat, blood pressure, body temperature, perspiration, and bowel, bladder and sexual function. Our understanding of the neurotransmitters associated with the autonomic nervous system has expanded over the past 15 years associated with current research efforts and are now impacting the diagnosis and treatment of autonomic nervous system disorders by clinical neurologists. This volume is a valuable companion for neuroscience and clinical neurology researchers and practitioners. - A volume in the Handbook of Clinical Neurology series, which has an unparalleled reputation as the world's most comprehensive source of information in neurology - International list of contributors, including the leading workers in the field - Describes the advances that have occurred in clinical neurology and the neurosciences and their impact on the understanding of neurological disorders and on patient care

This chapter conveys several concepts and points of view about the scientific and medical significance of differential alterations in activities of components of the autonomic nervous system in stress and disease. The use of terms such as “the autonomic nervous system,” “autonomic failure,” “dysautonomia,” and “autonomic dysfunction” imply the existence of a single entity; however, the autonomic nervous system has functionally and neurochemically distinctive components, which are reflected in differential responses to stressors and differential involvement in pathophysiologic states. One can conceptualize the autonomic nervous system as having at least five components: the sympathetic noradrenergic system, the sympathetic cholinergic system, the parasympathetic cholinergic system, the sympathetic adrenergic system, and the enteric nervous system. Evidence has accumulated for differential noradrenergic vs. adrenergic responses in various situations. The largest sympathetic adrenergic system responses are seen when the organism encounters stressors that pose a global or metabolic threat. Sympathetic noradrenergic system activation dominates the responses to orthostasis, moderate exercise, and exposure to cold, whereas sympathetic adrenergic system activation dominates those to glucoprivation and emotional distress. There seems to be at least as good a justification for the concept of coordinated adrenocortical–adrenomedullary responses as for coordinated adrenomedullary–sympathoneural responses in stress. Fainting reactions involve differential adrenomedullary hormonal vs. sympathetic noradrenergic activation. Parkinson disease entails relatively selective dysfunction of the sympathetic noradrenergic system, with prominent loss of noradrenergic nerves in the heart, yet normal adrenomedullary function. Allostatic load links stress with degenerative diseases, and Parkinson disease may be a disease of the elderly because of allostatic load.

The sympathetic nervous system plays important roles in the beat-to-beat control of blood pressure, the control of blood flow through various organs and the maintenance of core temperature through thermoregulatory processes. The development of microneurography, in which nerve activity can be recorded directly from intraneural microelectrodes inserted percutaneously into a peripheral nerve in awake human subjects, has provided a wealth of information on the control of sympathetic outflow to muscle and skin. Although not intended to be diagnostic, recordings of muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA) and skin sympathetic nerve activity (SSNA) in different disease states have increased our understanding of the operation of the sympathetic nervous system. And while quantification of sympathetic nerve activity is still largely limited to measures of burst frequency (bursts/minute) and burst incidence (bursts/100 heart beats), the development of single-unit recordings of MSNA and SSNA have provided more detailed information on how the sympathetic nervous system grades its output. This chapter reviews the development of sympathetic microneurography and its application in health and disease.

Primer on the Autonomic Nervous System, Fourth Edition provides a concise and accessible overview of autonomic neuroscience for students, scientists, and clinicians. The book's 142 chapters draw on the expertise of more than 215 basic scientists and clinicians who discuss key information on how the autonomic nervous system controls the body, particularly in response to stress. This new edition also focuses on the translational crossover between basic and clinical research. In addition to comprehensively covering all aspects of autonomic physiology and pathology, topics such as psychopharmacology decoding and modulating nerve function are also explored. - Provides concise and practical information on the autonomic nervous system - Discusses all aspects of autonomic physiology and pathology - Contains new content on psychopharmacology and modulating nerve function

A traditional view of the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) considers only its peripheral part: the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems. However, this view misses to consider the most important ANS function: the maintenance of homeostasis. This term is used today to define not only the strategies that allow the body proper response to changes in the environment (reactive homeostasis), but also temporal mechanisms that allow the body to predict the most likely timing of environmental stimuli (predictive homeostasis based on biological rhythms). This book discusses the ANS from both an enlarged and a timed perspective. First, it presents how the organization of the ANS is hierarchical into different levels. Following that, the book discusses how the ANS changes functionally in the three-body configurations (wakefulness, slow sleep, rapid eye movement sleep) found in a 24-hour cycle. Finally, the most important clinical implications of this enlarged and timed vision of ANS will be discussed. Autonomic Nervous System – Basic and Clinical Aspects is a comprehensive text intended for medical students and health professionals who are interested in a deeper approach to this important part of the nervous system. It provides a detailed and complete understanding of the neuroscience behind the ANS, allowing a proper clinical applicability of this knowledge.

The Primer on the Autonomic Nervous System presents, in a readable and accessible format, key information about how the autonomic nervous system controls the body, particularly in response to stress. It represents the largest collection of world-wide autonomic nervous system authorities ever assembled in one book. It is especially suitable for students, scientists and physicians seeking key information about all aspects of autonomic physiology and pathology in one convenient source. Providing up-to-date knowledge about basic and clinical autonomic neuroscience in a format designed to make learning easy and fun, this book is a must-have for any neuroscientist's bookshelf! - Greatly amplified and updated from previous edition including the latest developments in the field of autonomic cardiovascular regulation and neuroscience - Provides key information about all aspects of autonomic physiology and pathology - Discusses stress and how its effects on the body are mediated - Compiles contributions by over 140 experts on the autonomic nervous system

Aging of the Autonomic Nervous System is the first book devoted to the aging of the autonomic nervous system. The book presents the most recent findings on topics such as general aspects of the autonomic nervous system, main neurotransmitter systems, age-dependent changes of neuroeffector mechanisms in target organs, and therapeutic perspectives. It also provides a comprehensive analysis of the possible consequences of these findings. Aging of the Autonomic Nervous System will be a useful volume for gerontologists and neuroscientists.

Comparative Physiology and Evolution of the Autonomic Nervous System, the fourth volume in the Autonomic Nervous System series, is an up-to-date account of the comparative physiology and functional anatomy of the autonomic nervous system, with an emphasis on non-mammalian vertebrates. The book starts with an overview of the field and then discusses both 'classical' (adrenergic and cholinergic) non-adrenergic and non-cholinergic (NANC) types of neurotransmission. The account is then further developed by an examination of the autonomic nervous control of specific systems and organs. Readership: Researchers, working professionals, undergraduates and graduates working in neurology, cardiology, internal medicine, clinical pharmacology, and hypertension.

A detailed overview of the autonomic nerve pathways that regulate all bodily functions other than movement.

This book explores various connections and variabilities of the autonomic part of the peripheral nervous system in almost all the regions of the human body. Based on the authors‘ research and results obtained on 20 specimens of human cadaveric material, the text elucidates the variabilities and peculiarities of the autonomic nervous system and its function within the whole peripheral nervous system. The book is equipped with detailed illustrations and schemes to help the reader understand the vegetative nervous system and illustrate its connections to other parts of the peripheral nervous system.