• The term peripheral refers to things that are not in the center or that

are on the edges of the center. The peripheral nervous system or PNS
is made up of all the nerves and neurons that are not contained in the
brain and spinal cord. It allows the brain and spinal cord to
communicate with the sensory systems of the eyes, ears, skin, and
mouth and allows the brain and spinal cord to control the muscles
and glands of the body.
• The PNS can be divided into two major systems: the somatic nervous
system, which consists of nerves that control the voluntary muscles of
the body, and the autonomic nervous system (ANS), which consists of
nerves that control the involuntary muscles, organs, and glands.
• Somatic nervous system is the part of the peripheral nervous system that
controls the movement of skeletal muscles or transmits somatosensory
information to the central nervous system.
• Sensory neurons in the SNS transmit information from sensory receptors (like
those in the skin, muscles, and joints) back to the CNS. This includes
sensations such as touch, pain, temperature, and proprioception (awareness
of body position and movement).
• It is also primarily involved in activities under conscious control and includes
motor neurons that send signals from the central nervous system (CNS) to
skeletal muscles. These neurons control voluntary muscle contractions,
allowing us to move, speak, and perform other conscious actions.
• The Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) is a part of the peripheral nervous system that
controls involuntary bodily functions and regulates the activity of internal organs, such
as the heart, lungs, digestive organs, and glands. The ANS operates largely unconsciously
and is responsible for maintaining homeostasis, which is the stable internal environment
of the body, and for adapting to external stimuli and regulates smooth muscles.
Autonomic means self-governing
• Smooth muscle is found in the skin (associated with hair follicles), in blood vessels, in the eyes
(controlling pupil size and accommodation of the lens), and in the walls and sphincters of the
gut, gallbladder, and urinary bladder.
• It plays a vital role in regulating the body's involuntary functions and maintaining
balance between arousal (through the sympathetic nervous system) and relaxation
(through the parasympathetic nervous system). Its primary responsibility is ensuring
that the body adapts efficiently to both internal and external stimuli to sustain health
and functionality.
• The autonomic nervous system consists of neurons that receive sensory receptors within the
body that monitor internal changes, like blood pressure or oxygen levels and send
commands to the heart, intestines, and other organs. The ANS helps to maintain the internal
balance of the body by responding to both internal and external stimuli.
• The sympathetic nervous system, a network of nerves that prepare the organs for a burst of
vigorous activity, consists of chains of ganglia just to the left and right of the spinal cord’s
central regions (the thoracic and lumbar areas). These ganglia have connections back and
forth with the spinal cord.
• Sympathetic axons prepare the organs for “fight or flight,” such as by increasing breathing
and heart rate and decreasing digestive activity. Because the sympathetic ganglia are closely
linked, they often act as a single system “in sympathy” with one another, although certain
events activate some parts more than others. The sweat glands, the adrenal glands, the
muscles that constrict blood vessels, and the muscles that erect the hairs of the skin have
sympathetic input but no parasympathetic input.
• The sympathetic division is most involved in activities associated with
expenditure of energy from reserves that are stored in the body. For
example, when an organism is excited, the sympathetic nervous
system increases blood flow to skeletal muscles, stimulates the
secretion of epinephrine (resulting in increased heart rate and a rise
in blood sugar level), and causes piloerection (erection of fur in
mammals that have it and production of “goose bumps” in humans).
• The cell bodies of sympathetic motor neurons are located in the gray
matter of the thoracic and lumbar regions of the spinal cord (hence,
the sympathetic nervous system is also known as the thoracolumbar
system).
• The axons that leave the spinal cord through the ventral root belong to the
preganglionic neurons. The neurons with which they form synapses are
called postganglionic neurons. The postganglionic neurons send axons to
the target organs, such as the intestines, stomach, kidneys, or sweat glands.
• The sympathetic nervous system controls the adrenal medulla, a set of cells located
in the center of the adrenal gland. The adrenal medulla closely resembles a
sympathetic ganglion. It is innervated by preganglionic axons, and its secretory cells
are very similar to postganglionic sympathetic neurons. These cells secrete
epinephrine and norepinephrine when they are stimulated. These hormones
function chiefly as an adjunct to the direct neural effects of sympathetic activity; for
example, they increase blood flow to the muscles and cause stored nutrients to be
broken down into glucose within skeletal muscle cells, thus increasing the energy
available to these cells.
• The parasympathetic nervous system, sometimes called the “rest and
digest” system, facilitates vegetative, nonemergency responses. The
term para means “beside” or “related to,” and parasympathetic activities
are related to, and generally the opposite of, sympathetic activities. For
example, the sympathetic nervous system increases heart rate, and the
parasympathetic nervous system decreases it. The parasympathetic
nervous system increases digestive activity, whereas the sympathetic
nervous system decreases it. The parasympathetic system also promotes
sexual arousal. Although the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems
produce contrary effects, both are constantly active to varying degrees,
and many stimuli arouse parts of both systems.
• The parasympathetic nervous system is also known as the
craniosacral system because it consists of the cranial nerves and
nerves from the sacral spinal cord. Unlike the ganglia in the
sympathetic system, the parasympathetic ganglia are not arranged in
a chain near the spinal cord.
• It is the part of the peripheral nervous system that regulates the
body’s internal environment. It is composed of afferent nerves that
carry sensory signals from internal organs to the CNS and efferent
nerves that carry motor signals from the CNS to internal organs.
• The parasympathetic nervous system’s axons release the neurotransmitter
acetylcholine onto the organs. Most sympathetic nervous system axons release
norepinephrine, although a few, such as those onto the sweat glands, use
acetylcholine. Because the two systems use different transmitters, certain drugs
excite or inhibit one system or the other. For example, over-the-counter cold
remedies exert most of their effects by blocking parasympathetic activity or
increasing sympathetic activity. Because the flow of sinus fluids is a
parasympathetic response, drugs that block the parasympathetic system inhibit
sinus flow. The side effects of cold remedies stem from their pro-sympathetic,
anti-parasympathetic activities: They increase heart rate, blood pressure, and
arousal. They inhibit salivation and digestion. Certain decongestant pills
containing pseudoephedrine have been withdrawn or restricted because of their
potential for abuse.
• The respective functions of the sympathetic and parasympathetic
systems stresses three important principles: (1) sympathetic nerves
stimulate, organize, and mobilize energy resources in threatening
situations, whereas parasympathetic nerves act to conserve energy;
(2) each autonomic target organ receives opposing sympathetic and
parasympathetic input, and its activity is thus controlled by relative
levels of sympathetic and parasympathetic activity; and (3)
sympathetic changes are indicative of psychological arousal, whereas
parasympathetic changes are indicative of psychological relaxation
• The SNS may prepare an organism for a flight or fight response by
increasing heart rate and respiration, dilating the pupil of the eye,
inhibiting digestion, and diverting blood from the skin to the skeletal
muscles. It can also cause the adrenal gland to release adrenaline and
noradrenaline. In short, this system helps to prepare the body to cope
with an actual (or potential) emergency or stressful situation. In
contrast, the PNS reverses or normalises the effects of sympathetic
activity, and generally acts to conserve energy or maintain resting
body function.
• Spinal Nerves begin at the junction of the ventral and dorsal roots of the spinal cord. spinal
nerves are attached to the spinal cord.
• Cranial Nerves: Twelve pairs of cranial nerves are attached to the ventral surface of the
brain. these peripheral nerves are directly attached to the brain. Most of these nerves
perform sensory and motor functions of the head and neck region. The autonomic motor
fibers of the cranial nerves are parasympathetic.
• Most of the nerves of the peripheral nervous system project from the spinal cord, but there
are 12 pairs of cranial nerves, which project from the brain. They are numbered in
sequence from front to back. The cranial nerves include purely sensory nerves such as the
olfactory nerves (I) and the optic nerves (II), but most contain both sensory and motor
fibers.
• The longest cranial nerves are the vagus nerves (X), which contain motor and sensory fibers
traveling to and from the gut. It conveys efferent fibers of the parasympathetic division of
the autonomic nervous system to organs of the thoracic and abdominal cavities.
 I. Olfactory: smell
II. Optic Vision
III. Oculomotor: Control of eye movements; pupil constriction
IV. Trochlear: Control of eye movement
V. Trigeminal: Skin sensations from most of the face; control of jaw muscles for chewing and swallowing
VI. Abducens: Control of eye movements
VII. Facial: Taste from the anterior two thirds of the tongue; control of facial expressions, crying, salivation, and
dilation of the head’s blood vessels
VIII. Statoacoustic: Hearing; equilibrium
IX. Glossopharyngeal: Taste and other sensations from throat and posterior third of the tongue; control of
swallowing, salivation, throat movements during speech
X. Vagus: Sensations from neck and thorax; control of throat, esophagus, and larynx; parasympathetic nerves to
stomach, intestines, and other organs
XI. Accessory: Control of neck and shoulder movements
XII. Hypoglossal: Control of muscles of the tongue
• The functions of the various cranial nerves are commonly assessed by
neurologists as a basis for diagnosis. Because the functions and
locations of the cranial nerves are specific, disruptions of particular
cranial nerve functions provide excellent clues about the location and
extent of tumors and other kinds of brain pathology.