sympathetic nervous system: pertaining to that part of the autonomic nervous system which usually prepares the organism to deal more effectively with a situation of strife or emergency, as in fight or flight, the functions of which contrast with or reciprocate those of the parasympathetic system Paradoxically, the sympathetic system is also responsible for the physiological phenomenon of orgasm and/or ejaculation, but not sexual arousal.
See also autonomic nervous system;
parasympathetic nervous system.
Dictionary of Sexology Project: Main Index