Summary
The olfactory mucosa of frog has been studied at an ultrastructural level to confirm previous light microscope observations in regard to the presence, in the sensory epithelium, of nerve fibres not belonging to the first cranial nerve proper. It has been observed that both myelinated and unmyelinated nerve fibres are present in the lamina propria and that eventually these fibres terminate inside the epithelium. Unmyelinated fibres usually contain dark core vesicles and similar content is seen in their intraepithelium terminals. Terminals containing only clear vesicles are also observed in the epithelium and they are believed to represent the terminals of the myelinated fibres. The significance of these ultrastructural findings is discussed in view of their functional meaning.
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This research was supported in part by a grant from the National Institutes of Health 1 RO1 NB 08943-04. The authors wish to acknowledge the technical assistance in preparation of electron microscopical material to L. M. Baldy and preparation of manuscript to C. F. Lewis. This research was supported in part by grant number PHS NS 07468.
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Graziadei, P.P.C., Gagne, H.T. Extrinsic innervation of olfactory epithelium. Z.Zellforsch 138, 315–326 (1973). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00307095
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00307095