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Combined physiological and anatomical studies on cells of the spinocervical tract

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NobleR_1981redux.pdf (24.39Mb)
Date
1981
Author
Noble, Raymond
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Abstract
 
 
1) The density, distribution and topographical organization of spinocervical tract (SCT) cells in the lumbosacral dorsal horn of the cat were determined by combined electrophysiological recording and HRP retrograde neuronal tracer techniques.
 
2) The lumbosacral dorsal horn contains between 550 - 800 SCT neurones arranged as a sheet across the dorsal horn. Most cells are concentrated in the L^- S1 segments vrhere there are about 20-40 SCT neurones per millimetre of dorsal horn, About 25/^ are in lamina III, 60^ in lamina IV and 10$ in lamina V; the remaining 5/j are distributed in laminae I, II or VI. Electro¬ physiological and HRP histology agreed remarkably well in terms of numbers, density and distribution although cells were consistently labelled in the marginal zone (lamina I) on both sides of the cord. The possible nature of these cells is discussed.
 
3) The SCT neurones are somatotopically organized in a way which reflects both the spiral-shaped dermatoraal trajectory described by Werner and Whitsel (1967)and the sagittal . arrangement of the terminal arborizations of the powerful monosynaptic projection from hair follicle afferent fibres.
 
4) Intraaxonal and intrasomal ionophoresis of HRP into single hair follicle afferent fibres and SCT neurones respectively, and subsequent histochemistry, enabled the numbers, distribution and mode of any possible synaptic contacts to be determined.
 
5) When the receptive field of the afferent fibre was centrally situated within that of the SCT cell, numerous bouton contacts were observed on the dendritic tree proximal to the soma; when the receptive field of the afferent fibre was more peripherally loc¬ ated within that of the SCT neurone far fewer contacts were observed and these were at more distal dendritic locations. Bouton contacts were often multiple, with several boutons closely spaced on a stretch of dendrite, and made in a 'climbing fashion. Contacts from a single hair afferent fibre were differentially distributed 011 the dendritic tree. These features are discussed inrelation to receptive field composition.
 
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http://hdl.handle.net/1842/30587
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