Control of Blood Pressure handout 1 per page

• To identify the components of the feed-back system involved in the reflex control of mean arterial blood pressure (including the receptors, integrating centre, target effectors and associated afferent and efferent pathways), where they are located and how they contribute to regulation of MABP.

• To predict how the cardiovascular system will reflexively respond to physiological changes to maintain mean arterial blood pressure.

there are ‘baroreceptors’ which detect changes in Blood pressure in vessels and also blood volume

Arterial baroreceptors detect changes in BP they act almost like stretch receptors along a vessel and when a vessel’s pressure increases its radius expands slightly which causes activation of these baroreceptors and causes them to discharge firing action potentials up to the MCVC medullary cardiovascular control centre. where it can cause effects to occur to counteract the change from there

Cardiopulmonary baroreceptors work in the same fashion however they detect changes in Blood volume rather than pressure, they may activate the bainbridge reflex (inc of HR & contractility of heart due to inc volume in atria to prevent damming of blood)

• To explain how tissue demands for blood flow are balanced against the requirement to maintain a mean arterial blood pressure.

there is local autoregulation of tissue, tissues are able to initiate local constriction and dialation of vessels

MABP = Cardiac output x total peripheral resistance

sympathetic innervation always has a slight tone/contraction on vasculature, what happens when parasympathetic mediation overcomes this

dec peripheral resistence around systemic circulation then flow increases