LM AND EM MORPHOLOGY OF SACRAL PARASYMPATHETIC NEURONS

副交感神经系统发挥主要的控制作用 排泄和性反射的影响 了解 这些反射的形态学和神经生理学基础是 不仅对治疗大量的脊柱疾病至关重要， 脊髓损伤患者，其中许多人可能死于并发症 与他们的排尿反射缺乏控制有关，但是 也包括患有失禁问题的老年人。 本研究旨在研究 膀胱和结肠节前神经元及相关中间神经元 位于脊髓的骶副交感神经核。 这些 神经元将在神经生理学上被识别， 细胞内与HRP，然后将在两个检查 光学显微镜（LM）和电子显微镜（EM）水平。 将它们的形态进行比较，并与它们的 在排泄反射中扮演不同的角色 这项技术提供 与现有方法相比有五个优点：第一，细胞内 方法更完全地填充和显示神经的神经突 细胞法优于HRP逆行法。 第二，他们将允许 检查单个神经元，而逆行方法 只生产多个标签。 第三，他们提供了积极的 识别神经元，高尔基方法没有。 第四、 细胞内方法将允许研究这些神经元， 特别是它们的远端树突和突触末梢， EM水平，而逆行方法不会。 最后 这种方法的优点是， 这些特征可能与它们的形态学有关。 的 获得的基本信息将直接关系到进一步的 了解正常功能，并对任何后续 试图解开功能的改变， 脊髓损伤

The parasympathetic nervous system exerts the major control over the excretory and sexual reflexes. Understanding the morphological and neurophysiological bases of these reflexes is essential to the treatment of not only the great number of spinal cord injured patients, many of whom may die from complications related to the lack of control over their micturition reflexes, but also of aged people suffering problems of incontinence. The research proposed here is designed to study the morphology of bladder and colon preganglionic neurons and related interneurons in the sacral parasympathetic nucleus in the spinal cord. These neurons will be identified neurophysiologically, injected intracellularly with HRP, and will then be examined at both the light microscopic (LM) and the electron microscopic (EM) levels. Their morphologies will be compared and correlated with their different roles in the excretory reflexes. This technique offers five advantages over present methods: First, intracellular methods fill and reveal more completely the neurites of a nerve cell than retrograde HRP methods. Second, they will permit an examination of individual neurons whereas the retrograde methods produce only multiple labeling. Third, they provide a positive identification of the neurons which Golgi methods do not. Fourth, intracellular methods will permit study of these neurons, particularly of their distal dendrites and synaptic terminals, at the EM level, whereas retrograde methods will not. Finally, this method offers the advantage that specific neurophysiological characteristics may be associated with their morphology. The basic information obtained will be directly relevant to further understanding of normal function and essential to any subsequent attempt at unraveling the alterations in function that result from spinal cord injury.