ISSN:
1432-0568
Keywords:
Ciliary ganglion
;
Quantitative study
;
Ultrastructure
;
Cat
Source:
Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
Topics:
Medicine
Notes:
Abstract The ciliary ganglia of eight healthy adult cats were studied by light and electron microscopy. The ganglion, measuring about 2 mm in length, was consistently found to be attached to the branch from the oculomotor nerve supplying the inferior oblique muscle. The number of neurons varied from 2773 to 3794 after applying Abercrombie's correction. The mean of average somal diameter of the neurons was 36.5 μm (SD = 5.0 μm) and the mean of somal cross-sectional area was 904.2 μm2 (SD = 262.8 μm2). The mean of average nuclear diameter was 13.9 urn (SD = 1.8 μm) and the mean of nuclear cross-sectional area was 142.2 μm2 (SD = 37.1 μm2). The mean of the aspect ratios of the soma and nucleus were 1.2 (SD = 0.1) and 1.1 (SD = 0.1) respectively. The frequency distributions of these parameters were all unimodal. Under the light microscope, the Nissl granules in the neurons were prominent and were distributed peripherally, perinuclearly or randomly in the cytoplasm. Under the electron microscope, the rough endoplasmic reticulum showed a similar pattern of distribution in the cytoplasm. In some neurons, glycogen-like granules were present; these were either distributed randomly throughout the cell, or aligned in single rows in relation to sub-surface cisterns and between the cisterns of smooth and rough endoplasmic reticulum. Most of the dendrites were short protrusions from the cell body; some contained glycogen-like granules. Occasionally, the dendritic protrusions were electron-dense. All the synapses encountered were axodendritic. In most axon terminals, the synaptic vesicles were spherical and measured 30–50 nm in diameter; in some, they were flattened, measuring 50 nm by 20 nm. Some axon terminals containing either spherical or flattened synaptic vesicles also contained large dense-cored vesicles that measured 80–100 nm, while their dense core measured 40–60 nm.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF00214438
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