Neuro & Autonomic Physiology for Anesthesia Technicians

Neuro and autonomic physiology helps anesthesia technicians and technologists understand how the nervous system communicates with the heart, blood vessels, organs, and other tissues during anesthesia. These concepts provide a foundation for understanding changes in heart rate, vascular tone, blood pressure, and physiological responses to stress and medications.

This lesson covers basic neural signaling, sympathetic and parasympathetic activity, autonomic pathways, and reflexes that help maintain physiological stability. Clinical examples connect autonomic physiology with bradycardia, tachycardia, blood pressure changes, patient positioning, vasoactive medications, and monitoring in the anesthesia environment.