peripheral nervous system

noun

: the part of the nervous system that is outside the central nervous system and comprises the cranial nerves excepting the optic nerve, the spinal nerves, and the autonomic nervous system

Examples of peripheral nervous system in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

This changes how your brain and peripheral nervous system respond to pain, providing relief. —Ayesha Gulzar, Verywell Health, 3 Jan. 2025

The toxin acts on both the central and peripheral nervous systems and can cause numbness, increasing stages of paralysis, gastrointestinal distress and respiratory failure. —David Faris, Newsweek, 27 Dec. 2024

Fight or flight gut check The study focused on a subset of the peripheral nervous system called the sympathetic nervous system, which becomes active when the brain detects danger. —Jon Hamilton, NPR, 12 Dec. 2024

But auras—which fMRI scans have indicated originate as a sort of rolling blackout within the brain—suggest information is getting through from the brain to the pain sensors in the peripheral nervous system, the nerves outside of the central nervous system that extend across the rest of the body. —Matthew Ponsford, WIRED, 19 Sep. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1846, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

peripheral nervous system

noun

: the part of the nervous system that is outside the central nervous system and is made up of the autonomic nervous system, the spinal nerves, and the cranial nerves except the optic nerve

Medical Definition

peripheral nervous system

noun

: the part of the nervous system that is outside the central nervous system and comprises the cranial nerves excepting the optic nerve, the spinal nerves, and the autonomic nervous system