the.com/autonomic nervous system
The body's autopilot, running your organs so your conscious mind doesn't have to.
means The part of the nervous system that controls involuntary functions like heart rate, digestion, and breathing without you having to think about them.
from From Greek 'autonomos,' meaning self-governing — built from 'autos' (self) and 'nomos' (law). The term was adopted in physiology in the 19th century to describe the nerve network that seemed to follow its own laws, operating independently of conscious command, governing the body's inner workings like a quiet, self-ruling province.
- two branches
- Sympathetic hits gas, parasympathetic hits brakes
- no permission needed
- Controls heartbeat, digestion, sweat without asking you
- fight or flight
- Sympathetic surge evolved for tigers, triggered by email
- vagus nerve
- Single nerve calms heart, gut, and face at once