Highlights in basic autonomic neurosciences: Changes to the autonomic nervous system associated with healthy ageing.

With a worldwide ageing population, it is of vital importance to understand how the autonomic nervous system adapts as we age to meet the ever changing demands on the body. Ageing is associated with changes to the cardiovascular system (including a steady increase in blood pressure), a variety of gastrointestinal disorders and urinary incontinence, as well as many other important system changes which are under autonomic control. The cardiovascular changes associated with healthy ageing are further complicated in women by the change in sex hormone levels associated with the menopause: ultimately the loss of the cardio-protective actions of oestrogen as highlighted in the first article below.