15

CHAPTER

269

Nervous System Drugs

The nervous system is our Internet over which sensory impulses travel the neu-

ral pathways to the brain. There they are interpreted and analyzed for an appro-

priate response. Another impulse is then generated by the brain and transmitted

along the same pathway to tell appropriate parts of the body to respond.

Sometimes those responses are voluntary, such as using your hand to swat

a bug from your nose. Involuntary responses include your heartbeat. Some

responses can be a combination, such as breathing. You can hold your breath and

you can make yourself breathe faster but your involuntary nervous system will

take over and slow down your breathing or make you take a breath. Medication

is available to interrupt impulses that flow along the neural pathway and prevent

the body from responding normally to a stimulant. Likewise, there are medica-

tions that cause an impulse to stimulate parts of the body. These include drugs

that increase the heart rate.

In this chapter, you’ll learn about medications that affect the central nervous

system and the peripheral nervous system.

A Brief Look at the Nervous System

In order to understand the therapeutic effects of medication used to treat the

nervous system, you’ll need to have an understanding of the anatomy and phys-

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