The

Sympathetic nervous system The sympathetic nervous system (SNS) is one of the three divisions of the autonomic nervous system, the others being the parasympathetic nervous system and the enteric nervous system. The enteric nervous system is sometimes considered part of th ...

and

Parasympathetic nervous system The parasympathetic nervous system (PSNS) is one of the three divisions of the autonomic nervous system, the others being the sympathetic nervous system and the enteric nervous system. The enteric nervous system is sometimes considered part of ...

can offset each other. One of the most classical example is called Vagal Escape. Vagal escape is characterized by a reduction in

blood pressure Blood pressure (BP) is the pressure of circulating blood against the walls of blood vessels. Most of this pressure results from the heart pumping blood through the circulatory system. When used without qualification, the term "blood pressure" r ...

due to

muscarinic Muscarinic acetylcholine receptors, or mAChRs, are acetylcholine receptors that form G protein-coupled receptor complexes in the cell membranes of certain neurons and other cells. They play several roles, including acting as the main end-rece ...

stimulation which is then compensated for stimulation from the sympathetic system to increase heart rate and thus blood pressure. When the heart is continuously stimulated via the vagus nerve, initially there is stoppage of heart beat. With further continuous stimuli, heart beat resumes (namely the ventricles) as the parasympathetic nerves only have their influence on the SA and AV nodes of the heart and not on the musculature of the heart, which establishes its own rhythm.

References

Autonomic nervous system {{biology-stub