What are Baroreceptors?
Part of the CNS, they are specialized nerve cells located in the aortic arch and the right and left carotid arteries. These baroreceptors are sensitive to changes in BP. If the baroreceptors detect hypertension, a parasympathetic response will be initiated. If Baroreceptors detect hypotension, a sympathetic response will be initiated. Baroreceptors help regulate blood pressure.
Baroreceptors, also called pressoreceptors, are sensory nerve endings in human blood vessels that detect blood pressure levels and report abnormal blood pressure to the central nervous system, which responds by regulating the resistance of the blood vessels and the rate and strength of the heart’s contractions. This process is known as the baroreflex. Baroreceptors work by detecting stretching in the blood vessel walls. There are two major types of baroreceptors, arterial or high pressure baroreceptors and low pressure baroreceptors. The former is found only in the aortic arch leading from the heart and in the the carotid sinuses at the origin of the carotid arteries, the major arteries supplying the brain. As their name implies, high pressure baroreceptors are active at the area of the circulatory system where blood pressure is at its highest. Arterial baroreceptors respond very quickly to changes in blood pressure, firing more rapidly as blood pressure increases, resulting in a lower
