Introduction - The Autonomic Nervous System and the Regulation of Body Functions

Summary

All living organisms interact continuously with their environment. They receive multiple signals from the environment via their sensory systems and respond by way of their somatomotor system. Both sensory processing and motor actions are entirely under the control of the central nervous system. The brain represents the extracorporeal space, the somatic body domains, the executive motor programs and programs for the diverse patterns of behavior initiated from higher centers. It generates complex motor commands on the basis of these central representations leading to movements of the body in its environment against different internal and external forces. The tools for performing these actions are the effector machines, the skeletal muscles and their controlling somatomotoneurons.