Intrinsic primary afferent neurons of the intestine

Abstract

After a long period of inconclusive observations, the intrinsic primary afferent neurons of the intestine have been identified. The intestine is thus equipped with two groups of afferent neurons, those with cell bodies in cranial and dorsal root ganglia, and these recently identified afferent neurons with cell bodies in the wall of the intestine. The first, tentative, identification of intrinsic primary afferent neurons was by their morphology, which is type II in the terminology of Dogiel. These are multipolar neurons, with some axons that project to other nerve cells in the intestine and other axons that project to the mucosa. Definitive identification came only recently when action potent..