The brain controls and regulates all the necessary body functions. Why can’t we consiously perform these functions or use our brain to affect our body.

Question

The brain controls and regulates all the necessary body functions. Why can’t we consiously perform these functions or use our brain to affect our body.

In: Biology

Answer 1

None of these answers are actually correct. I’m a 4th year med student. We have a sympathetic nervous system and parasympathetic nervous system. Our parasympathetic nervous system is located near the brain and will control things like constricting pupils, saliva stimulation, slows your heart rate, constricts your airways, stimulates stomach activity, etc. The Sympathetic nervous system is located in your spinal cord and will dilate pupils, inhibit salivation, increase hr, etc., you get the point. People refer to the parasympathetic as the rest and digest system and refer to the sympathetic as the fight or flight system. To answer your question: we can consciously control some of these things because they’re very highly regulated by metabolic processes.