Question

1. what part of the digestive process are under voluntary control?

2. How do you suppose damage to the vagus nerve (a parasympathetic nerve) would impact digestive processes?

3. what digestive functions does the pancreas perform?

Answer 1

1.The processes mastication and deglutition are under our voluntary control.These are the initial processes of the digestion.

Mastication is the process by which the food that is consumed is broken down into digestable size by the teeth.The food is also mixed well with the saliva.

Deglutition is the swallowing of the food particles

2.The damage to the vagus nerve affects the digestive processes.The damage mainly afffects the involuntary movements of the digestive tract and causes trouble in the movement of food in the GI tract.The damage causes conditions such as difficult diglutition,nausea,vomiting and gastroparesis.
Gastroparesis is a condition in which the normal motility of the stomach is affected and the food takes a long time to empty.This results in acid reflux,loss of appetite,nausea,vomiting,abdominal blotting etc..

3.The pancreas helps in secretion of various digestive enzymes and also in the maintenance of the pH in the the small intestine.

The pancreatic enzymes are

• Pancreatic proteases like trypsin and chymotrypsin -help s in the digestion of proteins.
• Pancreatic amylase - helps in digestion of carbohydrates.
• Pancreatic lipase - which helps in the fat digestion

The pancreas also secretes a hormone gastrin that aids the gastric digestion.