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MODULE 11:
The Autonomic Nervous System
PART 3 OF 7
Stina’s racing heart and dry mouth didn’t flare when she was anxious; they flared when her inflammation did, waxing and waning with her markers rather than her mood. That mismatch is a clue into the chemistry — the two neurotransmitters and small family of receptors that run every autonomic synapse, and the specific ways inflammation can disturb them.
Slide 1 Transcript
PATIENT CHART
STINA
THIS PART
Age 45
PRESENTING WITH
Disabling facial pain, hearing loss, wire-but exhausted feeling
DIAGNOSIS
Dysautonomia
DRUGS PERSCRIBED
Anti-seizure Drugs
CHART CLUES
COLLECTED AS YOU GO
Multi-Organ Autonomic Dysfunction
‘Revved’ Flares
Autonomic Symptoms Track Inflammation
Trigeminal Neuralgia
Cochlear Hair-Cell Injury
Two Cranial Nerves Affected
Dysautonomia
Put your money down: Is ‘stress’ the right label?
Stina’s racing heart and dry mouthThe opening of the digestive tract where food enters and mastication begins. flared with her inflammation, not her stress — waxing and waning with her markers rather than her mood.
Pick the answer you believe now. We’ll come back to it later!
Chaos That Tracked Her Flares
The thing Stina’s doctors kept getting wrong was timing. Her racing heart and dry mouth didn’t track with anxiety or caffeine — they tracked with her flares. When her inflammatory markers climbed, so did her autonomic chaos; when the fire banked, her body settled. That coupling pointed away from “nerves” in the colloquial sense and toward the actual chemistry of the autonomic synapses — chemistry that inflammation is known to disturb.
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Two Messengers, Three Receptor Families
Autonomic signaling runs on two main neurotransmittersChemicals released by neurons to transmit signals across a synapse. and a small family of receptorsProteins located on the surface or inside cells that bind specific molecules (e.g., neurotransmitter. Every preganglionic neuron — sympathetic and parasympathetic alike — releases acetylcholinealso know as ACh A neurotransmitter that stimulates muscle contraction. (ACh) onto nicotinic receptorsCholinergic receptors found on postganglionic neurons and skeletal muscle; they respond to acetylcho at the ganglionA cluster of neuron cell bodies located in the peripheral nervous system (PNS).. From there the divisions diverge: parasympathetic postganglionic neuronsThe functional cells of the nervous system that transmit signals. release ACh again, this time onto muscarinic receptorsCholinergic receptors found on the effector organs of the parasympathetic nervous system; they media on the target organ, while most sympathetic postganglionic neurons release norepinephrineA neurotransmitter involved in attention, arousal, and the fight-or-flight response. (NE) onto adrenergic receptorsReceptors that bind norepinephrine and epinephrine; divided into α (alpha) and β (beta) types with d. So three receptorA structure that detects stimuli. families do the work — nicotinic, muscarinic, and adrenergic — and the identity of the messenger and receptor determines whether an organ speeds up or slows down.
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Inflammation Tampering With the Chemistry
Here is the FMF connection: inflammatory cytokines can alter neurotransmitterChemicals that transmit signals across synapses. release, shift receptor sensitivity, and bias the whole system toward sympathetic “revving.” Stina’s autonomic symptomsSubjective experiences reported by the patient (e.g., nausea, fatigue). rose and fell with her inflammation because the inflammation was, quite literally, tampering with the chemistry of her autonomic synapses.
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Slide 7 Transcript
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Slide 8 Transcript
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FINDING!
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Confirm or refute your bet: Is ‘stress’ the right label?
You committed to a guess: is ‘stress’ right? Now you know the autonomic chemistry. Let’s re-read the timing.
Slide 7 Transcript
NEXT PART
Disturbed autonomic chemistry is one face of an inflamed nervous systemThe organ system that controls body functions using electrical and chemical signals.. But inflammation can attack named nerves directly — and one of them turns a breeze into a lightning bolt across the face. Next: trigeminal neuralgia.
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All pages for Module 11 — The Autonomic Nervous System
11.0 Module Overview
11.1 The Bladder That Won’t Listen
11.2 Two Pedals
11.3 Chemical Messengers
11.4 A Stab in the Face
11.5 The Fading Sound
11.6 Windows and Receivers
11.7 Autonomic Instability
11.8 Conclusion and Assessment
11.9 Evidence Behind the Case
All Modules
- Anatomical Language, Membranes & Homeostasis
- Just Enough Chemistry
- The Cell & Its Transport
- Making Cells & Proteins
- The Integumentary System
- The Skeletal System
- The Muscular System
- Nervous Tissue & the Senses
- The Spinal Cord
- The Brain & the Blood–Brain Barrier
- The Autonomic Nervous System
- Special Senses (in developmentThe process of growth and differentiation.)
- The Endocrine System
- Blood
- The Heart
- Blood Vessels
- The Digestive System
- The Respiratory System
- The Urinary System
- Fluids, Electrolytes & Acid–Base Balance
- The Reproductive System
- The Immune System
List of terms
- mouth
- neurotransmitters
- receptors
- acetylcholine
- nicotinic receptors
- ganglion
- neurons
- muscarinic receptors
- norepinephrine
- adrenergic receptors
- receptor
- neurotransmitter
- symptoms
- nervous system
- development