autonomic nervous system: pertaining to that part of the nervous system that regulates usually "involuntary" reactions, especially those concerned with nutritive, vascular, glandular, and reproductive organs. These ganglia and nerves traverse the body in large part parallel to and outside the vertebral column, which encases the spinal cord (sympathetic or lumbosacral portion) and through fibers emerging with the cranial nerves and pituitary gland, and lower segments of the spinal cord (parasympathetic or craniosacral portion).
Dictionary of Sexology Project: Main Index