Peter Pressman, MD, is a board-certified neurologist developing new ways to diagnose and care for people with neurocognitive disorders. Neurotransmitters differ, though, when the nerve cells reach their targets. It also controls homeostasis which is maintained through regulation of body temperature, blood pressure, pleasure, pain, hunger, and thirst as well as hormone production. The brain is protected by the skull, while the spinal cord, which is about 17 inches (43 cm) long, is protected by the vertebral column. While few diseases attack the autonomic nervous system alone, almost all medical disorders have some impact on the autonomics. Blumenfeld H, Neuroanatomy through Clinical Cases. (CNS) is made up of the brain, cerebellum  and the spinal cord. The parasympathetic nervous system, on the other hand, works to conserve energy. The somatic nervous system is made up of neurons connecting the CNS with the parts of the body that interact with the outside world. connects the forebrain and the hindbrain and carries the important job of connecting the brain to the spinal cord. The brain is made up of three regions, the forebrain, the midbrain, and the hindbrain. In contrast, the post-ganglionic sympathetic neurons only release norepinephrine, with the exception of sweat glands and some smooth muscle on blood vessels, in which acetylcholine is still used. Each nerve has a protective outer layer called myelin. The nervous system has two great divisions: the central nervous system (CNS), which consists of the brain and the spinal cord, and the peripheral nervous system (PNS), which consists of nerves and small concentrations of gray matter called ganglia. Many nerves of the parasympathetic autonomic nervous system begin in the nuclei in your brainstem. The forebrain, midbrain, hindbrain, and spinal cord form the central nervous system (CNS), which is one of two great divisions of the nervous system as a whole. Blood pressure is a good example of how the sympathetic and parasympathetic components of the nervous system work together within the body. It signals the body to conserve its energy while it sleeps and relaxes. Explain the brain to your students with a variety of teaching tools and resources. The parasympathetic is associated with relaxation, digestion, and generally taking it easy. The sympathetic nervous system mobilizes energy and resources during times of stress and arousal, while the parasympathetic nervous system conserves energy and resources during relaxed states, including sleep. Other parasympathetic terminate in the walls of thoracic and abdominal organs like the esophagus, gastrointestinal tract, pharynx, heart, pancreas, gallbladder, kidney, and ureter. Your brain uses your nerves to send messages to the rest of your body. It processes sounds and sights and works to control the movement of the eye. The sympathetic system is the emergency system and performs life saving flight or fight responses. In the cerebrum, the insula, anterior cingulate cortex, substantia innominata, amygdala and ventromedial prefrontal cortex communicate with the hypothalamus to impact your autonomic nervous system.