Autonomic Nervous System
Many of the body's activities, such as the beating of the heart, or the flow of digestive juices, are automatic and not under conscious control.
Part of the peripheral nervous system, known as the autonomic nervous system, is responsible for these functions.
The autonomic nervous system consists of a series of cranial and spinal nerves that supply the internal organs. It is further subdivided into the sympathetic and the parasympathetic nervous systems, which balance each other.
Generally, the sympathetic system stimulates, for example speeding up the pulse rate, while the parasympathetic system has a calming action, for example slowing the pulse rate.
Brain and nervous system
The nervous system is the most complicated system in the body, an extensive, intricate network of structures that activates, coordinates and controls all the functions of the body.
It is divided into the central nervous system, comprising the brain and the spinal cord, and the peripheral nervous system, which branches to every part of the body and includes the cranial nerves (twelve pairs of nerves that arise within the skull) and the spinal nerves.
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