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sympathetic nervous system

sympathetic nervous system
noun Date: 1850 the part of the autonomic nervous system that contains chiefly adrenergic fibers and tends to depress secretion, decrease the tone and contractility of smooth muscle, and increase heart rate — compare parasympathetic nervous system

New Collegiate Dictionary. 2001.

  
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  • sympathetic nervous system — One of the two divisions of the vertebrate autonomic nervous system (the other being the parasympathetic nervous system). The sympathetic preganglionic neurons have their cell bodies in the thoracic and lumbar regions of the spinal cord, and… …   Dictionary of molecular biology

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  • Parasympathetic nervous system — A part of nervous system that serves to slow the heart rate, increase the intestinal and gland activity, and relax the sphincter muscles. The parasympathetic nervous system, together with the sympathetic nervous system (that accelerates the heart …   Medical dictionary

  • parasympathetic nervous system — noun Date: circa 1934 the part of the autonomic nervous system that contains chiefly cholinergic fibers, that tends to induce secretion, to increase the tone and contractility of smooth muscle, and to slow heart rate, and that consists of a… …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • stomodeal nervous system — see stomatogastric sympathetic nervous system …   Dictionary of invertebrate zoology