1. Less than 15% of the spinothalamic fibers originate from neurons in lamina I in cat
- Author
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Gert Holstege, Leonora J. Mouton, Esther Marije Klop, and SMART Movements (SMART)
- Subjects
Spinothalamic tract ,Lamina ,Spinothalamic Tracts ,Time Factors ,Central nervous system ,Thalamus ,Wheat Germ Agglutinin-Horseradish Peroxidase Conjugate ,Cell Count ,Biology ,wheat germ agglutinin-conjugated horseradish peroxidase ,Axonal Transport ,Functional Laterality ,thalamus ,medicine ,Animals ,pain ,nociception ,RETROGRADE TRANSPORT ,Neurons ,fluorescent ,General Neuroscience ,spinal cord ,marginal layer ,HORSERADISH-PEROXIDASE ,Anatomy ,Spinal cord ,medicine.anatomical_structure ,Nociception ,nervous system ,PROJECTIONS ,CELLS ,Axoplasmic transport ,Cats ,RAT ,Female ,Neuron ,SPINAL-CORD ,TRACT - Abstract
Lamina I neurons sending their axons into the spinothalamic tract are thought to play a crucial role in nociception, but many spinothalamic fibers do not originate from lamina I neurons. In cat, no consensus exists about what percentage of the spinothatamic tract cells are located in lamina I. After wheat germ agglutinin-conjugated horseradish peroxidase injections that covered large parts of the thalamus, retrogradely labeled cells were plotted and counted in all segments of the spinal cord. Results show that, averaged over all spinal segments, the percentage of labeled lamina I neurons was 4.9-14.2%. These results demonstrate that, in contrast to what is concluded in several previous studies, lamina I in the cat provides only a limited part of the total spinal input to the thalamus. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.
- Published
- 2004