Central regulation of autonomic function

The autonomic nervous system is of paramount importance for daily life. Its regulatory action on respiratory, cardiovascular, digestive, endocrine, and many other systems is controlled by a number of structures in the central nervous system. While the majority of these nuclei and cortices have been identified in animal models, neuroimaging studies have recently begun to shed light on central autonomic processing in humans. Using functional magnetic neuroimaging we want to further investigate neural correlates of autonomic function and their role in psychiatric disorders.