Autonomic Cardiovascular Activation Components

Abstract

Both the nervous system and the endocrine system perform the task of controlling and integrating autonomic body functions. As pointed out in Chapter 4.2, these systems are coordinated at the hypothalamic brain level. The major difference between these systems is in the mode of transmission of information; it is chemical in the endocrine system and electrical in the nervous system. However, between preganglionic nerve cells, postganglionic nerve cells, and the target organs signals are carried by chemical rather than electrical signals. This chemical transmission across the synaptic cleft is accommodated through the release of transmitter substances from nerve terminals that activate or inhibit the postsynaptic cell by binding to a specialized receptor cell (Mayer, 1980).