Optical recording methods were used to characterize the intrinsic movements of squid stellate ganglia. Ganglionic contractions were rhythmic and occurred at a mean frequency of 8 min-1. Contractions were eliminated when Na+ in the external saline were replaced by Tris, but were only slowed when Na+ was replaced by sucrose. This suggests that Na+ plays some role in generating the contractions, b...

Authors' synopsis The efsects of left stellate ganglion stimulation on haemodynamics and coronary blood flow were studied in dogs, and compared bcirh hypoxia produced by arterial anoxia. Both left stellate stimulation and hypoxia resulted in an increase in coronary blood , f l o ~ , and myocardial oxygen consumption, but the increment in coronary blood flow iz'as much more pronounced during hyp...

We recorded direct-current extracellular electrograms simultaneously from 60 left ventricular epicardial sites in 38 alpha-chloralose-anesthetized dogs during repeated, 5 min coronary arterial occlusions. In each dog recordings made during control occlusions were compared with those made in occlusions after, or during, the following interventions on the sympathetic nervous system: left stellate...

Sympathoexcitation is associated with ventricular arrhythmogenesis. The aim of this study was to determine the role of thoracic dorsal root afferent neural inputs to the spinal cord in modulating ventricular sympathetic control of normal heart electrophysiology. We hypothesize that dorsal root afferent input tonically modulates basal and evoked efferent sympathetic control of the heart. A 56-el...

Squid display impressive changes in body coloration that are afforded by two types of dynamic skin elements: structural iridophores (which produce iridescence) and pigmented chromatophores. Both color elements are neurally controlled, but nothing is known about the iridescence circuit, or the environmental cues, that elicit iridescence expression. To tackle this knowledge gap, we performed dene...

The induction of tyrosine hydroxylase in the nerve terminals of the rat heart by reserpine lags behind that in the stellate ganglion by two to three days. Cycloheximide given three days after reserpine blocks the further rise of the enzyme in the nerve terminals. The increase in tyrosine hydroxylase activity of the lumbar ganglion is as marked as that in the stellate ganglion. The increase of e...

The distribution of choline acetyltransferase (ChoAcTase)-like immunoreactivity in the superior cervical ganglion and the stellate ganglion was analyzed with immunohistochemistry. A dense network of ChoAcTase-immunoreactive nerve fibers was observed in both ganglia studied. The ChoAcTase-positive fibers were found in all parts of the ganglia but had a differential distribution, giving rise to a...