Back to stress turning off salivation, an inhibition mediated by the sympathetic nervous system. What if you have to salivate for a living, if you are, say, an oboe player? Big audition comes along, good and nervous and—disaster—no spittle. Thus, many reed musicians wind up using drugs like beta-blockers that block the action of the sympathetic nervous system in order to slobber just in time for the big arpeggio.
