title: Decussation of bulbospinal respiratory axons at the level of the phrenic nuclei in adult rats: a possible substrate for the crossed phrenic phenomenon.
abstract: The axonal trajectories of inspiratory bulbospinal neurons were examined after deposition of the anterograde neuronal tracer phaseolus vulgaris leucoagglutinin (PHA-L) into the rostral ventral respiratory group in rats. At the level of the phrenic nucleus, PHA-L-labeled bulbospinal axons crossed the midline of the spinal cord in both the anterior gray and the anterior white commissure. These spinally decussating neurons provide a possible anatomical substrate for the respiratory reflex known as the crossed phrenic phenomenon.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, Michigan 48201.
authors.forename: H G
authors.initials: HG
authors.lastname: Goshgarian
authors.forename: H H
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Ellenberger
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Feldman
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001369:Axons / Q000502:physiology / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D003714:Denervation; D008297:Male; D008526:Medulla Oblongata / Q000502:physiology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D009046:Motor Neurons / Q000502:physiology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000502:physiology*; D010791:Phrenic Nerve / Q000502:physiology*; D010835:Phytohemagglutinins; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D012119:Respiration; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D010835:Phytohemagglutinins; C100156:leukoagglutinins, plants