The "sacral parasympathetic": ontogeny and anatomy of a myth

Clinical Autonomic Research : Official Journal of the Clinical Autonomic Research Society
I Espinosa-MedinaJean-François Brunet

Abstract

We recently defined genetic traits that distinguish sympathetic from parasympathetic neurons, both preganglionic and ganglionic (Espinosa-Medina et al., Science 354:893-897, 2016). By this set of criteria, we found that the sacral autonomic outflow is sympathetic, not parasympathetic as has been thought for more than a century. Proposing such a belated shift in perspective begs the question why the new criterion (cell types defined by their genetic make-up and dependencies) should be favored over the anatomical, physiological and pharmacological considerations of long ago that inspired the "parasympathetic" classification. After a brief reminder of the former, we expound the weaknesses of the latter and argue that the novel genetic definition helps integrating neglected anatomical and physiological observations and clearing the path for future research.

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Citations

Feb 18, 2018·Clinical Autonomic Research : Official Journal of the Clinical Autonomic Research Society·John P Horn
Feb 6, 2018·Clinical Autonomic Research : Official Journal of the Clinical Autonomic Research Society·Horacio Kaufmann, Jens Jordan
Jan 19, 2019·Clinical Autonomic Research : Official Journal of the Clinical Autonomic Research Society·Horacio Kaufmann, Jens Jordan
Jul 28, 2019·Toxicologic Pathology·Mark T Butt
Jan 5, 2018·Clinical Autonomic Research : Official Journal of the Clinical Autonomic Research Society·Wilfrid JänigWinfried L Neuhuber
Jul 21, 2020·World Journal of Gastroenterology : WJG·Zhi Yu
Dec 29, 2017·Clinical Autonomic Research : Official Journal of the Clinical Autonomic Research Society·Frances Lefcort
Mar 7, 2018·Movement Disorders : Official Journal of the Movement Disorder Society·Jose-Alberto Palma, Horacio Kaufmann
Aug 5, 2020·Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences : CMLS·Polina KamenevaIgor Adameyko
May 13, 2021·Clinical Autonomic Research : Official Journal of the Clinical Autonomic Research Society·Mitchell G MiglisSrikanth Muppidi

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