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Where are sympathetic ganglia located in relation to their target organs?
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nervous system
In a myelinated axon, the myelin sheath prevents the local current (small black arrows) from flowing across the membrane. This forces the current to travel down the nerve fibre to the unmyelinated nodes of Ranvier, which have a high concentration of ion channels. Upon stimulation, these ion channels propagate the action potential (large green arrows) to the next node. Thus, the action potential jumps along the fibre as it is regenerated at each node, a process called saltatory conduction. In an unmyelinated axon, the action potential is propagated along the entire membrane, fading as it diffuses back through the membrane to the original depolarized region.
Sympathetic ganglia are located at a distance from their target organs, categorized into two primary groups based on their anatomical position:
- Paravertebral ganglia: These are situated on each side of the vertebrae and are connected to form the sympathetic chain, or trunk. They provide innervation to structures such as blood vessels in the skin and muscle, sweat glands, and the viscera of the head, neck, and trunk.1
- Prevertebral (or preaortic) ganglia: These are located on the anterior surface of the aorta. They include the celiac, superior mesenteric, and inferior mesenteric ganglia, which distribute axons to the major gastrointestinal organs and other abdominal viscera.1
Unlike the parasympathetic nervous system, where ganglia are often embedded directly within or very near the target organs, sympathetic ganglia are positioned relatively far from the organs they innervate.12