Grey column

Abstract: The spinal nucleus of the accessory nerve (SNA) was localised in eight adult rabbits by a retrograde degeneration technique using thionine as a stain for the Nissl substance The SNA was found to extend from the caudal one fifth of the medulla oblongata to the cranial one fourth of the sixth cervical segment In the caudal part of the medulla oblongata, the SNA was located in the dorsal part of the detached ventral grey column In the first cervical segment, the SNA was dorsolateral to the dorsomedial column and dorsal to the ventromedial column of the ventral grey column In the cranial part of the second cervical segment, the SNA shifted laterally to the lateral margin of the ventral grey column After this lateral shift, the SNA was located in the lateral part of the ventral grey column of the second, third and fourth cervical segments In the fifth and cranial one fourth of the sixth cervical segments, the SNA was not a well defined column of cells but was represented by isolated cells scattered in the ventral part of the ventral grey column between the phrenic nucleus and the ventral border of the grey matter The total number of chromatolysed cells found in the SNA of the right experimental side varied from 2723 to 3210

Abstract: Publisher Summary The neurohypophysial peptides may have functions within the brain, which are quite distinct from their well-established actions on the kidney and uterus. This chapter presents an overview of the human brain and the spinal cord, using specific radioimmunoassays to determine in a quantitative manner the distribution of both vasopressin and oxytocin. The presence of appreciable quantities of oxytocin, and smaller amounts of vasopressin in the dorsal horn of the cord, in the substantia gelatinosa, the nucleus of the spinal tract of the trigeminal nerve, as well as the solitary tract nucleus, suggests that these neurohypophysial peptides may have a role in modulating sensory afferents to the central nervous system. However, in the human brain the greatest concentration of vasopressin and, to a lesser extent, oxytocin is found in the locus coemleus and periaqueductal grey matter, which, together with their presence in the dorsal nucleus of the vagus and intermediolateral grey column of the cord, suggests that there is a close relationship with the ascending and descending noradrenergic pathways. In the medulla, oxytocin predominates over vasopressin in the dorsal nucleus of the vagus nerve, nucleus solitaries, and nucleus of spinal tract of the trigeminal nerve. While, in the spinal cord, the greatest concentration of the peptides is in the intermediolateral grey column where the amount of oxytocin is four times that of vasopressin.