“…However, recent lines of inquiry have expanded the functional repertoire of the ANS by establishing an essential role for this system in regulating, integrating, and orchestrating processes between diverse physiological systems (49, 51, 71, 96, 112). Specifically, the results of many studies (71, 96, 97, 120, 121, 134, 135, 136, 150, 152, 181, 200, 256, 281, 296, 297, 298) have established a critical role for the ANS in mediating interactions between the nervous and immune systems, two important adaptive systems that were originally considered to function independently of each other. The physiology of ANS function and regulation involves numerous complex, dynamic, and integrated steps (e.g., neural outflow, transmitter synthesis, release and degradation, ganglionic regulation, receptor-mediated effects), many of which are likely involved in mediating neural-immune interactions.…”