Autonomic Nervous System (ANS): Divisions (Nursing)

00:00 Greetings. In this lecture, we will be covering the autonomic nervous system.

00:07 Recall that the nervous system can be divided into two functional categories.

00:13 You have the somatic nervous system which is going to include both sensory and motor neurons.

00:20 These sensory neurons are going to be related to touch, pain, temperature, and proprioception or your sense of self position as well as sight, hearing, taste, smell, and equilibrium.

00:36 In the somatic nervous system, the motor neurons are going to innervate our skeletal muscles.

00:43 The second division is the autonomic nervous system.

00:47 In this division, we receive input from sensory receptors located in the organs of the blood vessels, muscles, and the nervous system.

00:57 The autonomic nervous system can be further subdivided into two different subdivisions.

01:05 First, the sympathetic nervous system is going to be our fight-or-flight position.

01:10 This is the division that is activated if you are all of a sudden been chased by a bear.

01:17 Its stimulation is going to lead to an increase in alertness and metabolism so that we're ready for an emergency such as running from a bear.

01:27 The second subdivision is the parasympathetic nervous system.

01:31 This is our rest-and-digest division.

01:35 Its stimulation is going to slow down most of the body's activities.

01:40 This is going to be activated if the bear is outside and you're inside your cabin, and you're not worried about being eaten.