The autonomic nervous system has been classically divided into the sympathetic nervous system and parasympathetic nervous system only (i.e., exclusively motor). The sympathetic division emerges from the … See more

Sympathetic and parasympathetic divisions typically function in opposition to each other. But this opposition is better termed complementary in nature rather than antagonistic. For an analogy, one may think of the symp… See more

The specialised system of the autonomic nervous system was recognised by Galen.
In 1665, Thomas Willis used the terminology, and in 1900, John Newport Langley used the term, defining the two divisions as the sympatheti… See more