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Experimental Biology 2000 Symposium on Differential Control of Sympathetic Outflow NEUROANATOMICAL SPECIFICITY OF THE CIRCUITS CONTROLLING SYMPATHETIC OUTFLOW TO DIFFERENT TARGETS
Author(s) -
Sved Alan F,
Cano Georgina,
Card J Patrick
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
clinical and experimental pharmacology and physiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.752
H-Index - 103
eISSN - 1440-1681
pISSN - 0305-1870
DOI - 10.1046/j.1440-1681.2001.03403.x
Subject(s) - rostral ventrolateral medulla , neuroscience , biological neural network , sympathetic nervous system , biology , medulla , nerve net , rostral ventromedial medulla , nucleus , central nervous system , medulla oblongata , anatomy , endocrinology , nociception , biochemistry , receptor , hyperalgesia , blood pressure
SUMMARY 1. Despite the emerging framework that central neural pathways controlling the activity of the sympathetic nervous system are capable of producing highly selective responses, the specific neural pathways governing different sympathetic outflows are poorly understood. 2. Anatomical studies suggest that five brain areas, namely the rostral ventrolateral medulla, the rostral ventromedial medulla, the caudal raphe nuclei, the region containing the A5 noradrenergic neurons and the paraventricular hypothalamic nucleus, provide dominant supraspinal innervation of sympathetic preganglionic neurons. 3. The anatomical parcellation of different functions within and among these cell groups is uncertain. However, recent studies using transynaptic retrograde labelling of neural pathways connected to various sympathetic targets suggest that the circuits controlling these different targets may be partially distinct. Similarly, anatomical studies relying on stimulus‐evoked expression of immediate early genes, such as c‐fos , suggest that different sympathetic responses may be controlled by distinct neural circuits. 4. Thus, although many similarities exist in the anatomical circuits innervating different sympathetic targets, possibly supporting the orchestration of global sympathetic responses, differences are also discernible.