Parasympathetic Division

The sympathetic and parasympathetic divisions are part of the autonomic nervous system. The autonomic nervous system controls the functions which are automatic or those which are not voluntary (Ciccarelli, & White, 2015). This includes organs, glands, and all of the involuntary muscles which are body consists of. The sympathetic division runs along the middle of the spin from the beginning of the ribcage all the way down to the waist area. A more common name for the sympathetic division is the “fight-or-flight” component in our bodies. Most people are familiar with the term fight-or-flight as it distinguishes how our bodies react or respond to certain traumatic or stressful events. For example, some people become very anxious when it comes to public speaking, thus their heart rate will increase or their palms may become sweaty. This is a prime symptom of the fight-or-flight syndrome. The adrenal glands are alerted to release special stress hormones which travel throughout the body into certain organs. The heart begins to pump blood away from the vital organs, including the skin. Since the stress hormones stimulate the organs, the heart to begins to pump faster, and also causes other
Inside the spinal cord, on the top and bottom, and on each side of the sympathetic neurons, almost hugging the sympathetic neurons in a sense, are the parasympathetic neurons. Just like the sympathetic increases heartrate, the parasympathetic decreases or slows the heart down to a normal, functioning rate. The adrenal glands stop receiving signals, since the parasympathetic division isn’t even connected to them in the first place. This division of the nervous system isn’t just primarily for “calming” the body down after stressful events, it’s also important in ordinary daily functions such as breathing and even