Which divisions are part of the peripheral nervous system?

• A. Somatic and Autonomic
• B. Cranial and Spinal nerves
• C. Central and Peripheral
• D. Nervous system

Answer: (A)

The main idea is that the peripheral nervous system is organized into two functional divisions: somatic and autonomic. The somatic division handles conscious sensation and voluntary control of skeletal muscles, connecting the sensory receptors and motor neurons you actively use. The autonomic division regulates automatic functions like heart rate, digestion, and gland activity, operating without conscious input. Together, somatic and autonomic describe how the PNS coordinates both voluntary actions and involuntary processes.

Cranial and spinal nerves are important parts of the PNS, but they’re anatomical bundles rather than the two broad functional divisions. The terms central and peripheral describe the large-scale split of the entire nervous system, not internal divisions within the peripheral system. And “nervous system” refers to the whole network, not a division inside the PNS.