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December 26, 2016

The student seminar was on the basis of the student scientific society of human anatomy

The student seminar was on the basis of the student scientific society of human anatomy

December 23th at the student science anatomy society, which functions at a Department of Human Anatomy students held a seminar devoted to the contemporary rethinking of views on the composition and structure of the autonomic nervous system in the light of scientific studies in last year. The basis for this discussion was an article Espinosa-Medina, O. Saha, F. Boismoreau et. al. «The sacral autonomic outflow is sympathetic», published in the November issue 2016 year of journal «Science».

A kinship between cranial and pelvic visceral nerves of vertebrates has been accepted for a century. Accordingly, sacral preganglionic neurons are considered parasympathetic, as are their targets in the pelvic ganglia that prominently control rectal, bladder, and genital functions. Here, we uncover 15 phenotypic and ontogenetic features that distinguish pre- and postganglionic neurons of the cranial parasympathetic outflow from those of the thoraco-lumbar sympathetic outflow in mice. By every single one, the sacral outflow is indistinguishable from the thoraco-lumbar outflow. Thus, the parasympathetic nervous system receives input from cranial nerves exclusively and the sympathetic nervous system from spinal nerves, thoracic to sacral inclusively. This simplified, bipartite architecture offers a new framework to understand pelvic neurophysiology as well as development and evolution of the autonomic nervous system.

Original article available here.