Anatomy

Parasympathetic Nervous System

The craniosacral division of the autonomic nervous system. The cell bodies of the parasympathetic preganglionic fibers are in brain stem nuclei and in the sacral spinal cord. They synapse in cranial autonomic ganglia or in terminal ganglia near target organs. The parasympathetic nervous system generally acts to conserve resources and restore homeostasis, often with effects reciprocal to the sympathetic nervous system.

National Library of MedicineMedical Subject Headings2026

Structured Summary

Abstract

The craniosacral division of the autonomic nervous system. The cell bodies of the parasympathetic preganglionic fibers are in brain stem nuclei and in the sacral spinal cord. They synapse in cranial autonomic ganglia or in terminal ganglia near target organs. The parasympathetic nervous system generally acts to conserve resources and restore homeostasis, often with effects reciprocal to the sympathetic nervous system.

MeSH Record

Classification

Broader headings

Narrower headings

Related Concepts

Knowledge Graph

Loading graph…

Drag nodes to rearrange; hover to trace links; click a node to open its page.

MeSH Record

See Also

MeSH Record

Synonyms

5 entry terms
  • Nervous System, Parasympathetic
  • Nervous Systems, Parasympathetic
  • Parasympathetic Nervous Systems
  • System, Parasympathetic Nervous
  • Systems, Parasympathetic Nervous

MeSH Record

Aspects Covered

22 allowable subheadings

Indexed with the subheadings abnormalities, anatomy & histology, blood supply, chemistry, cytology, diagnostic imaging, drug effects, embryology, enzymology, growth & development, immunology, injuries, metabolism, microbiology, parasitology, pathology, physiology, physiopathology, radiation effects, surgery, ultrastructure, virology.

MeSH Record

Indexing Annotation

/drug eff: consider also PARASYMPATHOMIMETICS & PARASYMPATHOLYTICS

MeSH Hierarchy

Tree Number

  1. A08w.800w.050w.600w

MeSH Record

NLM Classification

WL 610

AMA Style

References

  1. National Library of Medicine. Parasympathetic Nervous System. Medical Subject Headings (MeSH). 2026. Unique ID D010275. http://id.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/2026/D010275
  2. Parasympathetic Nervous System. In: Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parasympathetic_nervous_system
  3. Parasympathetic Nervous System. In: Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q185589