Non-myelinated afferent fibres do not originate exclusively from the smallest dorsal root ganglion cells in the cat.
In chloralose-anaesthetized cats, the somata of cervical dorsal root ganglion cells with non-myelinated peripheral branches (group IV units) were impaled with glass micropipettes containing a 10% solution of horseradish peroxidase (HRP). The units were identified by their conduction velocity in the peripheral nerve (less than 2.5 m/s). After identification, HRP was injected iontophoretically into the soma. No significant correlation was found between the conduction velocity and cross-sectional areas of these somata. The soma sizes were distributed over a great portion of the whole size spectrum of the cells in the ganglia studied (C7 and C8).
D000818:Animals; D002415:Cats; D005260:Female; D005727:Ganglia, Spinal / Q000166:cytology* / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D009431:Neural Conduction; D009475:Neurons, Afferent / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology