Heat generation associated with synaptic transmission in the mammalian superior cervical ganglion

✍ Scribed by K. Kusano; I. Tasaki

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1990
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 604 KB
• Volume: 25
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0360-4012
• DOI: 10.1002/jnr.490250214

✦ Synopsis

By use of a thermal detector constructed with a thin polyvinylidene fluoride film (PVDF), heat production in the superior cervical ganglion (SCG) of the guinea pig was examined. A single electric shock applied to the preganglionic nerve evokes a temperature rise of approximately 1.5 x deg. The thermal responses summate when the preganglionic nerve is stimulated repetitively. The amplitude of the thermal response is increased when the preparation is treated with a high Ca2+ medium. Treatment with agents that block ganglionic transmission (high Mg2+, dtubocurarine, hexamethonium, TTX) reversibly suppresses thermal response. It is thus concluded that the thermal responses described in this paper are generated by the physico-chemical events underlying postsynaptic electrogenesis in the SCG cells.