The Autonomic Nervous System in Early Life

Abstract

A REVIEW of autonomic-nervous-system function in human infants necessarily poses the problem of defining the limits of discussion, for clinical investigators have discovered that this ubiquitous nervous system, in truth, leads in many directions. The question of early autonomic imbalance has served as the basis of hypotheses in the literature regarding the etiologies of such diverse entities as paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia, respiratory-distress syndrome, sudden unexplained death, hypertrophic pyloric stenosis and familial dysautonomia. Furthermore, constitutionally determined autonomic end-organ characteristics have been thought by many to account for a predisposition to the development of such psychophysiologic disorders as peptic ulcer and essential . . .