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Chapter 1 - Functional Anatomy of the Peripheral Sympathetic and Parasympathetic Systems

from Part I - The Autonomic Nervous System: Functional Anatomy and Interoceptive Afferents

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 July 2022

Wilfrid Jänig
Wilfrid Jänig
Affiliation:
Christian-Albrechts Universität zu Kiel, Germany
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Summary

The sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems are defined anatomically based on the levels of outflow from the spinal cord and brainstem. The sympathetic system originates from the thoracic and upper lumbar spinal segments and is therefore called the thoracolumbar system. The parasympathetic system originates from the brain stem and sacral spinal cord and is called the craniosacral system. Both systems consist of chains of preganglionic and postganglionic neurons, which are synaptically connected in autonomic ganglia. Sympathetic ganglia are situated away from their targets and organized bilaterally in the sympathetic chains and in the prevertebral ganglia. Parasympathetic ganglia are situated close to the target organs. Most autonomic target tissues react under physiological conditions to only one of the autonomic systems. The widely propagated idea of the antagonism between sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems is misleading. The adrenal medulla is an endocrine gland made up of cells releasing either adrenaline or noradrenaline. Postganglionic neurons of autonomic pathways contain combinations of neuropeptides colocalized with acetylcholine or noradrenaline. The principal organization of the peripheral autonomic nervous system in submammalian vertebrate groups is highly conserved in evolution over about 500 million years.

Keywords

Parasympathetic systemsympathetic systemanatomyautonomic gangliathoraco-lumbar systemcraniosacral systemacethylcholinenoradrenaline
Type
Chapter
Information
The Integrative Action of the Autonomic Nervous System
Neurobiology of Homeostasis
 , pp. 9 - 33
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

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References

Suggested Reading

Gibbins, I. L., Jobling, P. and Morris, J. L. (2003) Functional organization of peripheral vasomotor pathways. Acta Physiol Scand 177, 237–245.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jänig, W., Keast, J. R., McLachlan, E. M., Neuhuber, W. L. and Southard-Smith, M. (2017) Renaming all spinal autonomic outflows as sympathetic is a mistake. Auton Neurosci 206, 60–62.Google Scholar
Langley, J. N. (1903b) The autonomic nervous system. Brain 26, 1–26.Google Scholar
Nilsson, S. and Holmgren, S. (eds.) (1994) Comparative Physiology and Evolution of the Autonomic Nervous System, Harwood Academic Publishers, Chur (Switzerland).Google Scholar
Sheehan, D. (1936) Discovery of the autonomic nervous system. Arch Neurol Psychist 35, 1081–1115.Google Scholar
Swanson, L. W. (2013) Basic plan of the nervous system. In Fundamental Neuroscience, 4th edn (Squire, L. R., Berg, D., Bloom, F. E., et al., eds) pp. 15–38, Elsevier Academic Press, Amsterdam.Google Scholar

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