The innervation of the gastrointestinal tract

Abstract

Many central nervous system actions on final effectors such as the muscle and lining epithelium are exerted via the enteric nervous system. For example, the vagus nerves innervate enteric ganglia of the stomach, pancreas, and gallbladder, but not the muscle directly, sympathetic pathways innervate myenteric and submucosal ganglia, and pelvic nerves innervate the ganglia of the distal colon and rectum. However, some connections are direct, notably the vagal innervation of esophageal striated muscle, sympathetic innervation of the gastrointestinal sphincters, and, in large animals, muscle of nonsphincter regions and sympathetic innervation of gastrointestinal blood vessels. Immunohistochemical..