Long Held By Who?

The new research challenges two long-held beliefs about human health: that the autonomic nervous system -- often called the "involuntary nervous system" -- is not subject to training in ways that would override its control of functions such as as heart rate, blood pressure, breathing, perspiration and digestion; and that no behavioral intervention (short of, say, going to the doctor's office and getting a vaccination) can influence the immune system to spin up or stand down.

LA Times Actually it has been long held in many parts of the world that a person, through meditation, can in fact control many so called "involuntary" responses. In fact many martial arts incorporate the deliberate cultivation of such control in a means of mastering and focusing energy. The LA Times should review it's biases.