Functional Morphology of the Terminal Nerve -LHRH System

终末神经是一种脑神经，见于所有种类的脊椎动物。在外周，这条神经与鼻部上皮相连。几乎没有确凿的证据告诉我们末梢神经的功能。然而，这种神经以前与感觉和运动功能有关，就在最近，它还与某些生殖过程的控制有关。一种假设是，这种神经的化学感觉部分通过向大脑控制性活动、生殖反射和促性腺激素分泌的区域释放LHRH来检测性信息素并促进生殖行为。Leo Demski博士一直在研究末梢神经，并将继续他的工作，利用黄貂鱼系统的独特功能，它与嗅束的分离，以及它的大神经节，其特征表明神经分泌直接进入脑血管。将使用复杂的神经解剖学和发育技术来确定末梢神经的精确功能。

The terminal nerve is a cranial nerve found in all classes of vertebrates. Peripherally, this nerve connects to the nasal epithelium. There is very little hard evidence which tells us the function of the terminal nerve. However, this nerve has been previously implicated in sensory and motor functions and just recently it has been implicated in the control of certain reproductive processes. One hypothesis is that the chemosensory component of this nerve detects sexual pheromones and facilitates reproductive behavior by releasing LHRH into brain areas controlling sexual activity, reproductive reflexes and gonadotropin secretion. Dr. Leo Demski has been studying the terminal nerve and will continue his work by taking advantage of unique features of the system in stingrays, its separation from the olfactory tract and its large ganglion which has characteristics suggesting neurosecretion directly into cerebral vessels. Sophisticated neuroanatomical and developmental techniques will be employed to define the precise functions of the terminal nerve.