The
somatic nervous system (
SoNS or
voluntary nervous system) is the part of the
peripheral nervous system associated with
skeletal muscle control of body movements. The SoNS consists of
afferent nerves and
efferent nerves. Afferent nerves are responsible for relaying sensation from the body to the central nervous system (CNS); efferent nerves are responsible for sending out commands from the CNS to the body, stimulating
muscle contraction; they include all the non-sensory
neurons connected with skeletal
muscles and
skin. The
a- of
afferent and the
e- of
efferent correspond to the
prefixes ad- (to, toward) and
ex- (out of).