Control of gut motility

Control of gut motility: Extrinsic autonomic neural control, enteric nervous system, and smooth muscle function. The left panel shows extrinsic neural control, including the vagus and sacral parasympathetic nerves and the sympathetic innervation originating from levels thoracic 5 to 10 in the spinal cord. The right panel shows the organization of the enteric nervous system, which demonstrates plexuses in the submucosal and intermuscular layers called the submucosal plexus and myenteric plexus. In addition, there are pacemakers in the wall of the intestine, including the ICCs and fibroblast-like cells bearing receptors for PDGFRα, which convey the neural stimulus to the smooth muscle cells. These pacemaker cells and plexuses help to coordinate muscular and secretory functions of the digestive tract.