Correlate the SNS with the ANS.. please help?

Question

Correlate the SNS with the ANS. How do the two different branches of the nervous system interrelate?

Any info given helps.. thank you

Answer 1

I'm assuming that you mean SNS stands for Somatic Nervous System. So here it goes.....

The somatic nervous system consists of peripheral nerve fibers that send sensory information to the central nervous system AND motor nerve fibers that project to skeletal muscle. The SNS is under voluntary control.

The autonomic nervous system is divided into two parts: the sympathetic nervous system and the parasympathetic nervous system. The autonomic nervous system controls smooth muscle of the viscera (internal organs) and glands. The preganglionic neuron is located in either the brain or the spinal cord. This preganglionic neuron projects to an autonomic ganglion. The postganglionic neuron then projects to the target organ. The ANS is under involuntary control.

The somatic nervous system has only one neuron between the central nervous system and the target organ while the autonomic nervous system uses two neurons. However, both use efferent (outgoing) motor neurons to control effectors (muscles, glands, organs).

Answer 2

The above answer is right. Because all the different branches of the nervous system can get confusing, I always write SNS as S-ANS, and PNS as P-ANS to remind me that they're both types of autonomic nerves.

Edit: from my experience, SNS and PNS are pretty much reserved for the branches of the ANS. I suppose you could use it to refer to the 'somatic nervous system' as well, as the below answer points out.

The two 'branches' of the somatic system are efferent motor fibers (somatomotor system), which supply skeletal muscle, and afferent sensory fibers (dorsal root system) which bring sensory info back from all over the body. It is only the somatomotor fibers that are under voluntary control, which is perhaps why the term 'somatic nervous system' isn't used often. Personally, I think its just to help people organize the nervous system better. If there is an 'autonomic' system, there must be a 'somatic' one, right?

So, lets review:

ANS = SNS + PNS
Somatic Nervous System = somatomotor + dorsal sensory.

Hope I didn't confuse you, but I wanted to clear up the responses you got, as they may have seemed conflicting, but actually aren't. ;)

Answer 3

The SNS is part of the ANS. There are two parts of the ANS: the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) and parasympathetic nervous system (PSNS). The SNS is sometimes responsible for "fight or flight" and the PSNS is responsible for "rest and digest".