--- title: "Mesenteric Plexus | Anatomy and Physiology I" description: "Mesenteric plexus in Anatomy and Physiology I is a nerve network in the mesentery that helps control gut movement, secretion, and blood flow." canonical: "https://fiveable.me/anatomy-physiology/key-terms/mesenteric-plexus" type: "key-term" subject: "Anatomy and Physiology I" unit: "Unit 15" --- # Mesenteric Plexus | Anatomy and Physiology I ## Definition The mesenteric plexus is a network of autonomic nerves in the mesentery that regulates intestinal movement, secretion, and blood flow in Anatomy and Physiology I. ## What It Is The mesenteric plexus is the nerve network that runs through the mesentery and helps control the intestines. In Anatomy and Physiology I, you usually meet it as part of the autonomic nervous system, especially the pathways that influence digestion without conscious control. Think of the mesentery as the tissue fold that holds the intestines in place and also gives vessels and nerves a route to reach them. The mesenteric plexus sits in that route and sends nerve signals to the gut wall. Those signals help coordinate smooth muscle contraction, glandular secretion, and local blood flow. This matters because the digestive tract is not just a tube that passively moves food. It has to mix chyme, push it along, release enzymes and mucus, and match blood supply to digestive activity. The mesenteric plexus helps tune those actions so the intestines can respond to meals, rest, stress, and changing needs in nearby tissue. In the course, you can connect it to the broader autonomic nervous system. Autonomic nerves use two main kinds of output, sympathetic and parasympathetic, and both can influence the gut through plexuses and ganglia. The mesenteric plexus is one of the places where those signals are organized before reaching intestinal targets. A helpful way to picture it is as a control hub, not the thing doing digestion itself. The smooth muscle, glands, and blood vessels are the effectors, while the mesenteric plexus carries and coordinates the nerve input that adjusts how those effectors behave. If that signaling changes, you can see changes in peristalsis, secretion, or blood flow rather than one dramatic all-or-nothing response. ## Why It Matters The mesenteric plexus shows how the autonomic nervous system connects to a real organ system instead of staying abstract. If you are tracing how the body regulates digestion, this term helps you follow the path from nervous input to gut response. It also gives you a cleaner way to explain what makes digestion automatic. You are not just memorizing that the intestines move food, you are seeing how nerve networks in the mesentery help coordinate that movement, along with secretion and circulation. That is a classic Anatomy and Physiology I link between structure and function. This term is useful any time you compare sympathetic and parasympathetic effects on the digestive tract. A small change in autonomic signaling can slow motility, shift secretion, or change blood flow, and the mesenteric plexus is part of the route that makes those effects possible. It also shows up when you are labeling anatomy, interpreting diagrams of the gut, or explaining why the intestines have a dense nerve supply even though they are not part of the central nervous system. If you can point to the plexus and describe what it controls, you sound like you actually know how the digestive system is organized. ## Connections ### Autonomic Nervous System The mesenteric plexus is part of the larger autonomic nervous system, so it carries involuntary control signals rather than conscious motor commands. When you study the ANS, this term helps you move from the big picture to the specific nerve routes that affect the intestines. ### Enteric Nervous System The enteric nervous system is the gut's own local control network, and the mesenteric plexus works alongside it. The plexus brings autonomic input into the digestive tract, while the enteric system handles much of the day-to-day coordination of motility and secretion inside the bowel wall. ### Parasympathetic Nervous System Parasympathetic signals usually increase digestive activity, so they often interact with the mesenteric plexus when the body is in a rest-and-digest state. If you are tracing how a meal leads to stronger gut activity, this is the branch most often associated with that shift. ### [Autonomic Tone](/anatomy-physiology/key-terms/autonomic-tone) Autonomic tone is the baseline level of autonomic activity on an organ, including the gut. The mesenteric plexus is part of the pathway that helps maintain and adjust that background level, which is why digestion does not wait for a full conscious command to keep working. ## On the AP Exam A quiz item might ask you to identify the mesenteric plexus on a digestive anatomy diagram, explain where it is located, or describe what it controls. A short-answer question may give you a scenario like slowed intestinal motility and ask which nervous system structures are involved in regulating that function. In a lab, you might label the mesentery, then connect the nerve network there to intestinal movement and blood supply. If you are comparing sympathetic and parasympathetic effects, this term helps you show where autonomic signals travel before they reach the gut. The safest move is to name the structure, state that it is a nerve network in the mesentery, and then link it to smooth muscle, secretion, and blood flow in the intestines. ## mesenteric plexus vs Enteric Nervous System These are related but not the same. The mesenteric plexus is an autonomic nerve network in the mesentery that sends input to the intestines, while the enteric nervous system is the intrinsic nerve system embedded in the gut wall itself. If a question asks about local gut control versus outside autonomic input, that difference matters. ## Key Takeaways - The mesenteric plexus is a network of autonomic nerves in the mesentery that supplies the intestines. - It helps regulate smooth muscle contraction, glandular secretion, and blood flow in the digestive tract. - In Anatomy and Physiology I, it connects the autonomic nervous system to real digestive function. - You can think of it as a control route, not the organ that does digestion itself. - It is closely related to the enteric nervous system, but it is not the same thing. ## FAQs ### What is mesenteric plexus in Anatomy and Physiology I? The mesenteric plexus is a network of autonomic nerves in the mesentery that helps regulate intestinal activity. It sends nerve input that affects smooth muscle movement, secretion, and blood flow in the gut. In A&P I, it shows how the nervous system controls digestion automatically. ### Is the mesenteric plexus part of the autonomic nervous system? Yes. It is part of the autonomic nervous system because it carries involuntary nerve signals to the intestines. That is why it is tied to digestion, not conscious movement. ### How is the mesenteric plexus different from the enteric nervous system? The mesenteric plexus is a nerve network in the mesentery that brings autonomic input to the gut. The enteric nervous system sits in the gut wall and can coordinate many digestive functions on its own. A common mistake is treating them like the same structure, but one is a pathway and the other is the gut's local nervous system. ### What does the mesenteric plexus control? It helps control intestinal smooth muscle contraction, glandular secretion, and blood flow. That means it affects how food moves, how fluids are released into the digestive tract, and how the intestines are supplied with blood during digestion. ## Related Study Guides - [15.1 Divisions of the Autonomic Nervous System ](/anatomy-physiology/unit-15/1-divisions-autonomic-nervous-system/study-guide/qpYZLYuQycoeEYSM) ## About This Document Canonical Fiveable pages are available as Markdown at the same path plus `.md`. - [llms.txt](https://fiveable.me/llms.txt): index of Fiveable's sections and URL patterns - [llms-full.txt](https://fiveable.me/llms-full.txt): complete subject and unit listing - [MCP server](https://fiveable.me/mcp): call Fiveable as tools instead of fetching pages (`https://fiveable.me/api/mcp`) - [MCP server for AP teachers](https://fiveable.me/mcp/teachers): a teacher's classes, assignments and AP-rubric grading (`https://fiveable.me/api/mcp/teacher`) ## Structured Data ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"LearningResource","@id":"https://fiveable.me/anatomy-physiology/key-terms/mesenteric-plexus#resource","name":"Mesenteric Plexus | Anatomy and Physiology I","url":"https://fiveable.me/anatomy-physiology/key-terms/mesenteric-plexus","learningResourceType":"Concept explainer","educationalLevel":"AP® / High School","about":{"@id":"https://fiveable.me/anatomy-physiology/key-terms/mesenteric-plexus#term"},"audience":{"@type":"EducationalAudience","educationalRole":"student"},"dateModified":"2026-07-03T02:20:40.569Z","isPartOf":{"@type":"Collection","name":"Anatomy and Physiology I Key Terms","url":"https://fiveable.me/anatomy-physiology/key-terms"},"author":{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://fiveable.me/editorial#content-team","name":"Fiveable Content Team","url":"https://fiveable.me/editorial","parentOrganization":{"@id":"https://fiveable.me/#organization"},"member":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Amanda DoAmaral","sameAs":["https://www.linkedin.com/in/adoamaral"]},{"@type":"Person","name":"Becky Bahr","sameAs":["https://www.linkedin.com/in/becky-bahr-b52743132"]}]},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Fiveable","url":"https://fiveable.me"}},{"@type":"DefinedTerm","@id":"https://fiveable.me/anatomy-physiology/key-terms/mesenteric-plexus#term","name":"mesenteric plexus","description":"The mesenteric plexus is a network of autonomic nerves in the mesentery that regulates intestinal movement, secretion, and blood flow in Anatomy and Physiology I.","url":"https://fiveable.me/anatomy-physiology/key-terms/mesenteric-plexus","inDefinedTermSet":{"@type":"DefinedTermSet","name":"Anatomy and Physiology I Key Terms","url":"https://fiveable.me/anatomy-physiology/key-terms"}},{"@type":"FAQPage","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"What is mesenteric plexus in Anatomy and Physiology I?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"The mesenteric plexus is a network of autonomic nerves in the mesentery that helps regulate intestinal activity. 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