Autonomic nervous system

the system of nerves and ganglia that innervates the blood vessels, heart, smooth muscles, viscera, and glands and controls their involuntary functions, consisting of sympathetic and parasympathetic portions.
contemporary examples

he equated this response with altered activity of the autonomic nervous system.
why do we cry? michael trimble january 9, 2013

historical examples

autonomic nervous system: the vegetative nervous system which controls vital functions,—as digestion, respiration, circulation.
outwitting our nerves josephine a. jackson and helen m. salisbury

noun
the section of the nervous system of vertebrates that controls the involuntary actions of the smooth muscles, heart, and glands. it has two divisions: the sympathetic and the parasympathetic compare somatic nervous system

autonomic nervous system n.
the part of the nervous system that regulates involuntary action, as of the intestines, smooth muscle, heart, and glands, and that is divided into two physiologically and anatomically distinct, mutually antagonistic systems, the sympathetic nervous system and the parasympathetic nervous system.
autonomic nervous system
(ô’tə-nŏm’ĭk)
the part of the vertebrate nervous system that regulates involuntary activity in the body by transmitting motor impulses to cardiac muscle, smooth muscle, and the glands. the muscular activity of the heart and of the circulatory, digestive, respiratory, and urogenital systems is controlled by the autonomic nervous system. the autonomic nervous system is divided into two parts: the sympathetic nervous system and the parasympathetic nervous system.
autonomic nervous system [(aw-tuh-nom-ik)]

the part of the nervous system that controls involuntary functions of the body (those not controlled consciously), such as digestion, the beating of the heart, and the operation of glands in the endocrine system.