Sympathetic nerve

Sympathetic nervous system
Schematic illustration showing the sympathetic nervous system with sympathetic cord and target organs.
Details
Identifiers
Latin	pars sympathica divisionis autonomici systematis nervosi
Acronym(s)	SNS
MeSH	Sympathetic+Nervous+System
TA	A14.3.01.001
FMA	9906
Anatomical terminology []

The sympathetic nervous system (SNS) is one of the two main divisions of the autonomic nervous system, the other being the parasympathetic nervous system (PSNS). The autonomic nervous system functions to regulate the body's unconscious actions. The sympathetic nervous system's primary process is to stimulate the body's fight-or-flight response. It is, however, constantly active at a basic level to maintain homeostasis. The sympathetic nervous system is described as being complementary to the parasympathetic nervous system which stimulates the body to "feed and breed" and to (then) "rest-and-digest".

There are two kinds of neurons involved in the transmission of any signal through the sympathetic system: pre-ganglionic and post-ganglionic. The shorter preganglionic neurons originate from the thoracolumbar region of the spinal cord specifically at T1 to L2~L3, and travel to a ganglion, often one of the paravertebral ganglia, where they synapse with a postganglionic neuron. From there, the long postganglionic neurons extend across most of the body.

At the synapses within the ganglia, preganglionic neurons release acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter that activates nicotinic acetylcholine receptors on postganglionic neurons. In response to this stimulus postganglionic neurons—with three important exceptions—release norepinephrine, which activates adrenergic receptors on the peripheral target tissues. The activation of target tissue receptors causes the effects associated with the sympathetic system.