The final chapter will describe how integrative neural control of most body functions is vital to keep the body able to survive and act in its environment. The autonomic nervous system is involved in virtually all of these functions (see Tables 11.1 and 11.2). I want to make clear:

• that the power and range of this integrative control of body function in mammals are dependent on the mesencephalon, hypothalamus and cerebral hemispheres;

• that the mastermind of the integration of autonomic, somatomotor and endocrine systems is located in the telencephalon;

• that the functionally differentiated autonomic pathways are the slaves of this mastermind, and

• that the “wisdom of the body” is to be found within these regions of the brain.

I will strictly adhere to the autonomic systems, described in the preceding chapters, in this description and will emphasize some critical points. I do not intend to describe the mechanisms underlying these integrative control systems in detail (as this would require another book). The chapter will not cover (1) how stress involves the autonomic nervous system in body protection (see Goldstein [1995, 2000]; Chrousos [1998]; McEwen [2001a]) and (2) neural mechanisms underlying emotional and motivational processes (Le Doux 1996; Panksepp 1998; Davidson et al. 2003; Morris and Dolan 2004).

The chapter will start with some critical reflections on concepts about the functioning of the autonomic nervous system that were propagated by Walter Bradford Cannon and Walter Rudolf Hess and are still influential in physiology and medicine.