Many actions are controlled by autonomic nerves, except some, like breathing, can be interfered by the conscious, while others, like the beating of the heart, cannot. In fact, for breathing, the conscious decision can override the autonomic nerves such as holding your breath until a certain point. It’s like an admin user vs a guest user. But how does such privilege system work in terms of neurons? How does the control alternate between the conscious and the autonomic system?
“You are now manually beating your heart”. Nope, that doesn’t work no matter how hard you try it (except for Buddha monks I suppose), so does this mean there are no physical neuron connections between the conscious and the heart?
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There is a bundle of neurons connected to the nerves that control the diaphragm. Some of those neurons are under conscious control, and some are automatic, controlled primarily by a reflex linked to carbon dioxide levels in the blood. In general, you can override the reflex, and stop/start breathing. But as the carbon dioxide level in the blood increases, that reflex action potential gets higher, and when it is higher than your conscious effort to not breathe, you will inhale involuntarily.
You cannot manually strangle yourself, or hold your breathe to die – once you lose consciousness, you start breathing again.
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