Morphological determinants of neurotransmission in autonomic ganglia.

自主神经节神经传递的形态决定因素。

• 批准号: nhmrc : 102128
• 负责人: Prof Ian Gibbins
• 金额: $ 30.01万
• 依托单位: Flinders University
• 依托单位国家: 澳大利亚
• 项目类别: NHMRC Project Grants
• 财政年份: 2000
• 资助国家: 澳大利亚
• 起止时间: 2000-01-01 至 2002-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://researchdata.edu.au/morphological-determinants-neurotransmission-autonomic-ganglia/82238
• 关键词: Morphological; determinants; neurotransmission; autonomic; ganglia.

The nervous system consists of billions of nerve cells that are connected together in special ways to process information about the outside world and our internal state and then generate the appropriate responses of our body to this information. To understand the complex working of the brain and its nerves, we have to understand how all these nerves are connected to each other. We are interested in the nerves that control the functions of the internal organs, such as arteries, glands and the gut. The brain controls these functions automatically, so we usually are not directly aware of their activity. The instructions to change the activity of the internal organs are sent from the brain down the spinal cord. The information is then sent from the spinal cord to the organs via a special set of nerves. However, instead of going directly to their targets, these nerves make connections with yet another set of nerves, which then go on to make the final connections with the appropriate target organs. We know a lot about these final nerve cells, including how big they are, how complicated they look, and what kinds of chemicals they use to send messages to the organs that they control. However, we still do not very much about how all these nerves are connected to each other. In this project we will use different types of modern microscopes that use either lasers or electron beams to look directly at the nerves and their connections. We then will use computerised models to construct a detailed map of the pathways taken by the nerves on their way to their target organs. By knowing how the nerves are connected to each other in these pathways, we will be able to understand how the instructions of the brain are modified depending on what other things are going on in the body at the same time. This information will be vital to help us appreciate how the nerves work when we get sick or injured.

神经系统由数十亿个神经细胞组成，这些神经细胞以特殊的方式连接在一起，处理有关外部世界和我们内部状态的信息，然后产生我们身体对这些信息的适当反应。要了解大脑及其神经的复杂工作，我们必须了解所有这些神经是如何相互联系的。我们感兴趣的是控制内部器官功能的神经，如动脉、腺体和肠道。大脑自动控制这些功能，所以我们通常不能直接意识到它们的活动。改变内脏活动的指令是从大脑向脊髓发出的。然后，这些信息通过一组特殊的神经从脊髓传递到器官。然而，这些神经不是直接连接到它们的目标，而是与另一组神经连接，然后这些神经继续与适当的目标器官进行最终连接。我们对这些最终的神经细胞了解很多，包括它们有多大，它们看起来有多复杂，以及它们使用什么化学物质向它们控制的器官发送信息。然而，我们仍然不太清楚所有这些神经是如何相互联系的。在这个项目中，我们将使用不同类型的现代显微镜，使用激光或电子束直接观察神经及其连接。然后，我们将使用计算机模型来构建一张详细的地图，显示神经在到达目标器官的途中所走的路径。通过了解这些通路中神经是如何相互连接的，我们将能够理解大脑的指令是如何根据身体中同时发生的其他事情而修改的。当我们生病或受伤时，这些信息将有助于我们理解神经是如何工作的。