title: Proprioception in the extraocular muscles of mammals and man.
abstract: This article summarizes the authors' previous studies on proprioceptors in extraocular muscles (EOMs) of mammals and man. They report on muscle spindles in the EOMs of man, Golgi tendon organs in the EOMs of even-toed ungulates, and palisade endings in the EOMs of the cat. Muscle spindles: Muscle spindles are present in the EOMs of some mammals and in the EOMs of man. Compared with muscle spindles in other skeletal muscles, those in human EOMs exhibit structural differences. These structural differences may indicate a special function. Golgi tendon organs: Golgi tendon organs are absent in human EOMs. Golgi tendon organs exhibiting a specific morphology are present in the EOMs of even-toed ungulates. Their high number and rich innervation indicate functional importance. Palisade endings: Palisade endings are nervous end organs confined to the EOMs of mammals and man. It is assumed that these organs have a proprioceptive function. The authors show that palisade endings are immunoreactive for antibodies against choline acetyltransferase. Neuromuscular contacts, if present in palisade endings, are alpha -bungarotoxin positive as well. Taken together, these results show that palisade endings exhibit molecular characteristics of effector organs.
authors.affiliation: Center of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Integrative Morphology Group, Medical University of Vienna, Austria. roland.blumer@meduniwien.ac.at
authors.forename: Roland
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Blumer
authors.forename: Kadriye Zeynep
authors.initials: KZ
authors.lastname: Konacki
authors.forename: Johannes
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Streicher
authors.forename: Wolfram
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Hoetzenecker
authors.forename: Michael Josef Franz
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Blumer
authors.forename: Julius-Robert
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Lukas
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000818:Animals; D002415:Cats; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005133:Eye Movements / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D009470:Muscle Spindles / Q000502:physiology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D009801:Oculomotor Muscles / Q000294:innervation* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D011434:Proprioception / Q000502:physiology*