Definition and research guide
This page combines a MeSH definition, publication statistics and selected research abstracts. It is a starting point for reading the literature, not a medical textbook or a systematic evidence review.
Content available: 3 complete abstracts (678 words), 9 references. Full article text is not stored or reproduced here; follow the PMID, DOI or PMC links to read the original sources and their access terms.
Definition
The nervous system outside of the brain and spinal cord. The peripheral nervous system has autonomic and somatic divisions. The autonomic nervous system includes the enteric, parasympathetic, and sympathetic subdivisions. The somatic nervous system includes the cranial and spinal nerves and their ganglia and the peripheral sensory receptors.
Definition: NLM Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) scope note (Public domain (U.S. National Library of Medicine); attribution requested). View the MeSH record.
Also known as: Nervous System, Peripheral; Nervous Systems, Peripheral; Peripheral Nervous Systems; System, Peripheral Nervous; Systems, Peripheral Nervous.
Where it fits in the MeSH classification
- Broader topics
- Nervous System
- Narrower topics
- Autonomic Nervous System; Ganglia, Sensory; Nerve Endings; Peripheral Nerves; Sensory Receptor Cells
- See also
- Neural Pathways
Research landscape
PubMed indexes 494,847 records tagged with the MeSH heading “Peripheral Nervous System” (counts retrieved 2026-10-29). 51,801 of them (10.5%) were published from 2020 onward, and the busiest period so far is through 1999 with 261,265 records.
Reviews account for 45,801 records (9.3%) and meta-analyses for 1,159. Randomized controlled trials number 8,037 (1.6%) as a share of all records on the topic. Randomized trials make up only a small share of this literature, so much of what is known comes from laboratory, observational or descriptive work.
Show the data
| Period | Records |
|---|---|
| through 1999 | 261,265 |
| 2000-2009 | 89,052 |
| 2010-2019 | 92,729 |
| 2020 onward | 51,801 |
Publication-type chart data
| Type | Records | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Reviews | 45,801 | 9.3% |
| Meta-analyses | 1,159 | 0.2% |
| Randomized controlled trials | 8,037 | 1.6% |
Method: PubMed query "Peripheral Nervous System"[MeSH Terms] with publication-type and date filters, retrieved 2026-10-29.
Reading the evidence in neuroscience
Neuroscience draws on tools with different strengths: cellular and animal work can manipulate circuits directly, while human imaging and electrophysiology observe the living brain at lower resolution. Small imaging studies are prone to false positives, and findings in animals do not always carry over to people. Clinical neurology and psychiatry rely on trials and cohort studies whose outcomes are often symptom scales. Check the species, the sample size, how the outcome was measured and whether results were replicated.
Evidence from open-access studies
These open-access studies come from PubMed’s best-match results for this heading (papers whose main topic it is), ranked here by citation count, with one recent addition. Each abstract is reproduced in full under its recorded open licence so that you can read the authors’ own words. They illustrate the literature; they are not a systematic summary of it. Citation counts measure attention, not reliability or clinical benefit.
| Study / authors | Year | Source label / design | Europe PMC citations | Licence / source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low-frequency tibial neuromodulation excites bladder activity in humans | 2026 | Research article Design not recorded in structured metadata | 3 | cc by PMID 42695443 · DOI · PMC13544907 |
| Region-specific mechanosensation modulates Drosophila postural control behaviour | 2026 | Research article Design not recorded in structured metadata | 1 | cc by PMID 42776575 · DOI · PMC13600696 |
| Molecular Mechanisms of Age-Related Taste Dysfunction Deciphered by Spatiotemporal Transcriptomics | 2026 | Research article Design not recorded in structured metadata | 1 | cc by PMID 42625389 · DOI · PMC13494364 |
Low-frequency tibial neuromodulation excites bladder activity in humans [1]
Abstract reading summary — source excerpts
- Opening excerpt
- Despite widespread clinical adoption for disorders of incontinence such as overactive bladder, there remain unknowns surrounding the mechanism that underpins tibial nerve stimulation (TNS).
- Closing excerpt
- We hope that future clinical research will determine the efficacy of low-frequency TNS as a non-invasive treatment option for urinary retention.
- Interpretation limits
- Verbatim excerpts from the authors’ abstract; the closing excerpt may describe a finding, limitation or recommendation. Design, population, effect size and uncertainty have not been independently extracted or appraised. Read the complete abstract and linked paper before interpreting the findings.
Read complete abstract (213 words)
Despite widespread clinical adoption for disorders of incontinence such as overactive bladder, there remain unknowns surrounding the mechanism that underpins tibial nerve stimulation (TNS). Current understanding suggests that TNS counteracts incontinence by the inhibition of brainstem and spinal cord activity. How this inhibition alters bladder function is not fully understood. We hypothesize that the supraspinal components of the system act as a high-pass filter, allowing voiding signals to proceed only when bladder filling reaches a critical level. Testing this hypothesis may explain how TNS is able to induce both an inhibitory and a little-explored excitatory effect on bladder activity in response to high-frequency (20 Hz) and low-frequency (1 Hz) stimulation, respectively. We performed a single-blinded trial in healthy human participants administered high- and low-frequency transcutaneous TNS. We also developed a computational model of the lower-urinary tract and control circuit to study the frequency-dependent effects of TNS. For the first time, we report a frequency-dependent effect of TNS via the ability to alter urge perception and upregulate and downregulate bladder activity, corroborating model predictions. These results provide a foundation for the development of targeted and effective TNS therapies, benefiting from in silico models. We hope that future clinical research will determine the efficacy of low-frequency TNS as a non-invasive treatment option for urinary retention.
Abstract reproduced from the open-access article under the recorded cc by licence; © the authors. PMID 42695443 · DOI · PMC13544907
Region-specific mechanosensation modulates Drosophila postural control behaviour [2]
Abstract reading summary — source excerpts
- Opening excerpt
- The relation between regional morphological features derived from the bilaterian body plan and the behaviours necessary to extract utility from such structures is not well understood.
- Closing excerpt
- Altogether, our work shows that region-specific mechanosensory processes mediated by multidendritic sensory neurons and instructed via Hox gene inputs are essential for self-righting, providing a link between regional structural features and an adaptive and widely evolutionarily conserved postural control behaviour.
- Interpretation limits
- Verbatim excerpts from the authors’ abstract; the closing excerpt may describe a finding, limitation or recommendation. Design, population, effect size and uncertainty have not been independently extracted or appraised. Read the complete abstract and linked paper before interpreting the findings.
Read complete abstract (291 words)
The relation between regional morphological features derived from the bilaterian body plan and the behaviours necessary to extract utility from such structures is not well understood. Here, we use the Drosophila larva to investigate this 'form-function' problem focusing on the mapping of the regional stimuli that trigger an adaptive and evolutionarily conserved behaviour termed self-righting: a postural control system that allows the animal to restore its natural position if turned upside-down. Through the development of new methodologies that allow regionally restricted mechanical stimulation and zonal-specific neuronal optogenetics, we find that multidendritic sensory neuron inhibition in anterior areas (thoracic/anterior abdominal) has a profound effect on self-righting performance, while inhibition of posterior sensory elements (mid and posterior abdomen) produces no effects. To gain insight into how regional neuronal inhibition affects the different subcomponents of the self-righting sequence we applied a deep neural network tracking method which revealed that reduction of neural activity in anterior sensory neurons primarily increases head casting behaviour and that this, in turn, is strongly correlated with abnormally long self-righting times. Furthermore, to explore the mechanistic bases of our behavioural observations, we considered the hypothesis that the Hox genes - well known for their roles in axial developmental patterning - might play a role in the functional specification of multidendritic sensory neurons along the body axis. Molecular expression analysis of FACS-sorted neural populations, fluorescent immunolabelling and neuron-specific knockdown experiments demonstrate that normal sensory neuron expression of the Hox genes Antennapedia and Abdominal-b is necessary for self-righting in the Drosophila larva. Altogether, our work shows that region-specific mechanosensory processes mediated by multidendritic sensory neurons and instructed via Hox gene inputs are essential for self-righting, providing a link between regional structural features and an adaptive and widely evolutionarily conserved postural control behaviour.
Abstract reproduced from the open-access article under the recorded cc by licence; © the authors. PMID 42776575 · DOI · PMC13600696
Molecular Mechanisms of Age-Related Taste Dysfunction Deciphered by Spatiotemporal Transcriptomics [3]
Abstract reading summary — source excerpts
- Opening excerpt
- Age-related taste dysfunction impairs nutrition and quality of life, contributing to metabolic disorders and frailty in the elderly, yet its cellular and molecular basis remains poorly understood.
- Closing excerpt
- Together, this study provides the first comprehensive spatiotemporal atlas of taste bud aging and identifies novel therapeutic targets for the treatment of age-related taste disorders.
- Interpretation limits
- Verbatim excerpts from the authors’ abstract; the closing excerpt may describe a finding, limitation or recommendation. Design, population, effect size and uncertainty have not been independently extracted or appraised. Read the complete abstract and linked paper before interpreting the findings.
Read complete abstract (174 words)
Age-related taste dysfunction impairs nutrition and quality of life, contributing to metabolic disorders and frailty in the elderly, yet its cellular and molecular basis remains poorly understood. By integrating single-cell RNA and spatial transcriptomics sequencing, we systematically mapped murine taste bud aging across five developmental stages from neonatal to aged. Our findings reveal that age-associated taste impairment is driven by the progressive depletion of stem/progenitor cell differentiation capacity, predominantly characterized in the posterior tongue, and mediated by inflamm-aging responses and micro-environmental alterations. Specifically, we identified macrophage infiltration and polarization shifts in aged circumvallate and foliate papillae, underscoring the crucial role of macrophages in age-related taste decline. A co-culture model using taste organoids with conditioned media from polarized macrophage revealed that M1-polarized cells suppress taste organoid proliferation and differentiation. Mechanistically, this inhibition may be mediated by macrophage-derived Thbs1, as recombinant Thbs1 treatment directly suppressed taste progenitor cell expansion in vitro. Together, this study provides the first comprehensive spatiotemporal atlas of taste bud aging and identifies novel therapeutic targets for the treatment of age-related taste disorders.
Abstract reproduced from the open-access article under the recorded cc by licence; © the authors. PMID 42625389 · DOI · PMC13494364
Key reviews and meta-analyses
The most cited review-type papers among PubMed’s best-match results for this heading, listed with bibliographic details only. Follow the links for the full text and access terms.
- Research article Heart rate variability and inflammation: A meta-analysis of human studies [4]
- Research article Optic nerve sheath diameter measured sonographically as non-invasive estimator of intracranial pressure: a systematic review and meta-analysis [5]
- Research article Emotion fingerprints or emotion populations? A meta-analytic investigation of autonomic features of emotion categories [6]
- Research article Can MRI measure myelin? Systematic review, qualitative assessment, and meta-analysis of studies validating microstructural imaging with myelin histology [7]
- Research article An interactive meta-analysis of MRI biomarkers of myelin [8]
- Research article Effects of voluntary slow breathing on heart rate and heart rate variability: A systematic review and a meta-analysis [9]
References
- McConnell-Trevillion A, Jabbari M, Ju W, Lister E, Erfanian A, Mitra S, et al.. Low-frequency tibial neuromodulation excites bladder activity in humans. . 2026. PMID 42695443 · DOI · PMC13544907
- Roseby W, Menzies JAC, Lipscomb VA, Alonso CR. Region-specific mechanosensation modulates Drosophila postural control behaviour. . 2026. PMID 42776575 · DOI · PMC13600696
- Zhao W, Cha X, Xie Y, Wang E, Xing W, Xu Z, et al.. Molecular Mechanisms of Age-Related Taste Dysfunction Deciphered by Spatiotemporal Transcriptomics. . 2026. PMID 42625389 · DOI · PMC13494364
- Williams DP, Koenig J, Carnevali L, Sgoifo A, Jarczok MN, Sternberg EM, et al.. Heart rate variability and inflammation: A meta-analysis of human studies. Brain Behav Immun. 2019. PMID 30872091 · DOI
- Robba C, Santori G, Czosnyka M, Corradi F, Bragazzi N, Padayachy L, et al.. Optic nerve sheath diameter measured sonographically as non-invasive estimator of intracranial pressure: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Intensive Care Med. 2018. PMID 30019201 · DOI
- Siegel EH, Sands MK, Van den Noortgate W, Condon P, Chang Y, Dy J, et al.. Emotion fingerprints or emotion populations? A meta-analytic investigation of autonomic features of emotion categories. Psychol Bull. 2018. PMID 29389177 · DOI · PMC5876074
- Lazari A, Lipp I. Can MRI measure myelin? Systematic review, qualitative assessment, and meta-analysis of studies validating microstructural imaging with myelin histology. Neuroimage. 2021. PMID 33524576 · DOI · PMC8063174
- Mancini M, Karakuzu A, Cohen-Adad J, Cercignani M, Nichols TE, Stikov N. An interactive meta-analysis of MRI biomarkers of myelin. Elife. 2020. PMID 33084576 · DOI · PMC7647401
- Laborde S, Allen MS, Borges U, Dosseville F, Hosang TJ, Iskra M, et al.. Effects of voluntary slow breathing on heart rate and heart rate variability: A systematic review and a meta-analysis. Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2022. PMID 35623448 · DOI
About this article
- Sources
- NLM Medical Subject Headings (definition, synonyms); NCBI PubMed (counts, identifiers); Europe PMC (open-access abstracts and citation counts).
- Verification
- Every reference was resolved against PubMed on 2026-10-31; title, year and DOI matched.
- Review state
- automated source verified; no human expert review has been recorded yet.
- Version
- 1, last updated 2026-10-29.
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Evidence strength
EvidenceHelix's computed view of the study designs behind this topic: how common meta-analyses, randomized trials and reviews are, how recent the literature is, and a plain-language reading. It describes the design mix of the literature. It is not a quality appraisal of any study, and it is not medical advice.