How to Use autonomic in a Sentence

autonomic

adjective
  • This response was almost autonomic; like watching the leg of a dead frog kick when an electric current runs through its corpse.
    Alex Shephard, The New Republic, 2 Sep. 2022
  • In these cases, the primitive part of our brain designed to protect us in the wild kicks in and our autonomic response is to recklessly fire back.
    Josh Linkner, Detroit Free Press, 31 July 2019
  • Sensory nerves and the autonomic nervous system are usually spared so that most with the disease can hear, see, touch, smell and taste.
    Jane E. Brody, New York Times, 29 May 2017
  • The brain’s function is autonomic so there is nothing to assemble here.
    Mike Oliver | Moliver@al.com, al, 10 Aug. 2019
  • The coronavirus may be able to cross the blood-brain barrier, causing autonomic changes such as shortness of breath, sweating and rapid heart rate, researchers said.
    Julie Washington, cleveland, 30 Mar. 2021
  • The singer did not reveal details of her latest health issues, but Knowles in 2017 did open up about dealing with an autonomic disorder.
    Chloe Melas, CNN, 3 Mar. 2021
  • The nerves of the autonomic nervous systems can be severely damaged.
    Markham Heid, Time, 4 Nov. 2022
  • BChE is an enzyme of the cholinergic system, part of the autonomic system, which controls functions like blood pressure and breathing.
    Katherine Dillinger and Jen Christensen, CNN, 13 May 2022
  • The Republican Party is shot through now with an impulse to disunion that is almost an autonomic reflex at this point.
    Charles P. Pierce, Esquire, 24 Aug. 2012
  • Many people are familiar with the numbness and pain of the feet and sometimes hands that can happen with longstanding diabetes, but the autonomic system can be affected as well.
    Dr. Keith Roach, oregonlive, 9 May 2022
  • In some studies, CBD was shown to decrease autonomic arousal - the nervous system response that involves an increased heartbeat, sweating and trembling.
    Dallas News, 22 Nov. 2022
  • Other studies since then have demonstrated that just looking at pictures of natural scenes can change the way a person’s autonomic nervous system responds to stress.
    Richard Taylor, Smithsonian, 31 Mar. 2017
  • In medical speak, cluster headaches are a type of trigeminal autonomic cephalgia.
    Zahra Barnes, SELF, 17 Dec. 2017
  • Thompson announced in May 2019 he had been diagnosed with an autonomic nerve disorder.
    Steve Megargee, BostonGlobe.com, 22 Jan. 2021
  • Also known as the SPG, these nerves help control autonomic (i.e., involuntary) functions like breathing.
    Zahra Barnes, SELF, 25 Jan. 2018
  • The autonomic nervous system jump-starts the sympathetic nervous system and accelerates the fight-or-flight response.
    Marygrace Taylor, SELF, 18 July 2017
  • The autonomic nervous system controls involuntary functions of your body, like your heart rate, blood pressure, breathing, and digestion.
    Kira Peikoff, Cosmopolitan, 9 Jan. 2015
  • The autonomic connection makes sense, because our hearts are under its jurisdiction.
    Nathaniel Scharping, Discover Magazine, 5 Mar. 2019
  • Telles helped conduct a study published in 1998 that measured autonomic changes while mentally repeating two syllables — one meaningful and the other neutral.
    Donna Sarkar, Discover Magazine, 15 Jan. 2021
  • The feel of slime even elicits autonomic psychophysiological effects (which are subconscious changes in the body related to the person’s emotional state).
    Coren Walters-Stewart, Discover Magazine, 18 Oct. 2022
  • Doctors proposed the man must have possessed unusual electrical connections in his heart, along with some kind of autonomic nervous disturbance related to his quadriplegia.
    Matt Hrodey, Discover Magazine, 5 Apr. 2023
  • It's related to the autonomic nervous system (ANS) and the balance between its branches - the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems.
    NOLA.com, 9 June 2017
  • In one, a region called the hypothalamus, the information informs the body’s autonomic thermal responses.
    Nick Stockton, WIRED, 3 Aug. 2015
  • All of these neurological changes impact the whole body, including our autonomic, metabolic and immune systems.
    Sandee Lamotte, CNN, 23 June 2022
  • When the autonomic nerves aren't working properly, this can cause symptoms like lightheadedness, brain fog, fainting, an abnormally fast heart rate when standing up, gastrointestinal problems, and more.
    Benjamin Vanhoose, PEOPLE.com, 23 June 2021
  • Preliminary observations were yielding more data to support the theories about the role that breathing issues and autonomic dysfunction played for some patients.
    Meghan O'Rourke, The Atlantic, 8 Mar. 2021
  • There was the matter, too, of financial conflicts and nepotism, an autonomic reflex of aspiring authoritarians.
    Amy Davidson, The New Yorker, 30 Jan. 2017
  • But disruptions to your autonomic nervous system (which also controls other unconscious behaviors like breathing in addition to your heartbeat), like an acute infection or cancer, can affect HRV.
    Jessica Migala, SI.com, 8 Aug. 2017
  • NYU Langone describes autonomic disorders as: The autonomic nervous system regulates the function of the body’s internal organs, such as heart rate, blood pressure, digestion, and body temperature.
    Essence.com, 27 Dec. 2017
  • There are several different types of neuropathy, with peripheral neuropathy and autonomic neuropathy being the most common.
    Elizabeth Woolley, Verywell Health, 28 May 2023

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'autonomic.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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