Download Slide ()

Preganglionic motor neurons regenerate selective connections with their sympathetic neuronal targets. A. Preganglionic motor neurons arise from different
levels of the thoracic spinal cord. Axons that arise from rostrally located thoracic neurons innervate superior cervical ganglion neurons that project to
rostral targets, including the eye muscles. Axons that arise from neurons at caudal levels of the thoracic spinal cord innervate ganglion neurons that project
to more caudal targets, such as the blood vessels of the ear. These two classes of ganglion neurons are intermingled in the ganglion, which suggested to
J. N. Langley that preganglionic axons from different thoracic levels selectively form synapses with neurons that terminate in specific peripheral targets.
B. After nerve
damage
in adults,
segment-specific
patterns ofof connectivity
are Fifth
established
Source:
Formation
and similar
Elimination
of Synapses, Principles
Neural Science,
Editon through reinnervation, supporting the notion that
synapse formation is selective. (Reproduced, with permission, from Nja and Purves 1977.)
Citation: Kandel ER, Schwartz JH, Jessell TM, Siegelbaum SA, Hudspeth AJ, Mack S. Principles of Neural Science, Fifth Editon; 2012 Available
at: http://mhmedical.com/ Accessed: May 12, 2017
Copyright © 2017 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved