Does anyone have any article recommendations that describe the distribution of autonomic nerve fibers, particularly sympathetic fibers, in the peripheral limbs? And as a further question, are there differences in the distribution of these fibers in relation to proximal and distal limbs? Any info would be of great value.
HI
HERE ARE SOME USEFUL TEXT AND REFERENCES
1] ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY OF SYMPATHETIC INNERVATION TO UPPER LIMB
CLINICAL AUTONOMIC RESEARCH :VOL 13 ISSUE 1 SUPPLEMENT 1: 12-5
2] GRAY'S ANATOMY 40TH EDITION CHAPTER 15, 46 ,79 --LAST PAGES OF THESE CHAPTERS
3] BARR'S THE HUMAN NERVOUS SYSTEM - ANATOMICAL POINT VIEW 9TH ED;2009 : PAGES 359
MIGHT HELP
INTERESTING ARTICLE
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1468385/
Hey Chandrika! Thank you for your article recommendations. Ill read through them later today.
Basic rule of "thumb" (no pun intended)...sympathetic fibers will course to the extremities for innervation of arrector muscles, sweat glands, and blood vessels. Parasympathetics do not course to the extremities (with exception of genitalia).
Yes of course Randall. However sometimes the human rule of thumb sometimes has to be rethought as new insights become apparent. Of course more sympathetic fibers will be found in the periphery. The question mainly concerns the distribution of fibers between distal and proximal extremities. Since the proximal extremities contain the greatest surface area and therefore contain the larger vessels, they should also contain the greatest amount of sympathetic fibers. However has anyone demonstrated this or rather made a "map" of vegetative nerve fibers per cm2 in the human body (core/periphery)? Thanks for your input !
Michael, that is an interesting idea. The assumption would be that since the sympathetic fibers course with somatic nerves that there would be a similar and concurrent reduction in nerve diameter (and therefore nerve density) towards the distal ends, but I am not aware of any examples of this being physically measured. I will ask my neuro colleagues and get back to you if they have any additional information.
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