Parasympathetic nervous system (rest-and-digest) – the nervous system
From the book – Chapter 3: Human Brain and Nervous System
Parasympathetic nervous system (rest-and-digest)
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Activates during rest.
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Slows heart rate.
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Promotes digestion.
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Supports healing and recovery.
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Conserves energy.
The two branches work as a balance, not a light switch. The hypothalamus sits on the border of neural and hormonal control and aims the pituitary at the rest of the endocrine system — including the HPA stress axis and cortisol.
Clinic note. Anxiety often feels like a sympathetic system that will not stand down. Depression and exhaustion often feel like a system that will not stand up.
Read the full chapter – Chapter 3: Human Brain and Nervous System
Stories from real life
- The Alarm That Would Not Switch Off – Priya was seventeen and preparing for her board exams in Jaipur. Whenever she opened her Physics paper, her heart hammered, her palms turned cold and wet,…
- After the Bike Fall – Arjun, twenty-two, rode his motorbike to a call centre in Hyderabad. One rainy night he skidded and hit his head. He had no helmet on. He…
- Learning to Paint at Seventy – Haridas, seventy-one, retired from the railways in Kolkata and found the days strangely empty. He began forgetting where he had put his glasses and worried that…
- Midnight Scrolling and the Growing Brain – Fifteen-year-old Chloe lived in Manchester and was known at school for her sharp wit. Lately she had been dozing in class and saying things she regretted.…
Shloks
- Katha Upanishad 1.3.3–4 – Know the self as the rider, the body as the chariot, the intellect as the driver, and the mind as the reins.
More on this topic: The brain, hormones and body chemistry behind your moods
More questions
- Understanding brain plasticity – the brain and nervous system
- Understanding messengers – the brain and nervous system
- Understanding taking care of your brain – the brain and nervous system
- Which brain region is mainly responsible for planning, decision-making and self-control?
- What is true: the limbic system is primarily involved in…?
- The "fight-or-flight" response is controlled by which part of the nervous system?
- What is true: the occipital lobe is primarily responsible for…?
- What is true: the brainstem controls…?
- What does Katha Upanishad 1.3.3–4 mean for the mind? (Chapter 3)
- The Alarm That Would Not Switch Off – what this story teaches, the signs and what to do