Download – Autonomic Nervous System – Anatomy and Physiology

The ANS can be thought of as the regulatory system that partly or wholly controls most of the body’s organ systems and homeostatic mechanisms. In general, ANS effects are involuntary, relatively rapid, neuronal reflexes. ANS effects include control of heart rate and force of contraction, constriction and dilatation of blood vessels, contraction and relaxation of smooth muscle in various organs, visual accommodation, pupillary size and secretions from exocrine and endocrine glands.

Oliver Pratt, Carl Gwinnutt*, Sarah Bakewell
*Correspondence Email: carl.gwinnutt@srht.nhs.uk