Peripheral Nervous System

The peripheral nervous system includes all neural tissue other than the brain or spinal cord.

SYMPATHETIC AND PARASYMPATHETIC SYSTEMS

#83 Thoracic Sympathetic Ganglion, Human

A peripheral ganglion is a collection of neuronal cell bodies located outside of the CNS. In general, each cell body is encapsulated by satellite cells. With medium power, identify the neuronal cell bodies and their eccentric nuclei with prominent nucleoli. Identify the encapsulating satellite cells.

Although no slide is suggested for study of a parasympathetic ganglion, these will be seen in many organs (e.g., tongue, pancreas, seminal vesicle). As in sympathetic ganglia, the neurons in parasympathetic ganglia are surrounded by satellite cells.

Preganglionic axons in both sympathetic and parasympathetic systems are myelinated while postganglionics are unmyelinated. What is the functional consequence of the location of parasympathetic neurons near the target organ?