Role of the hypergeometric distribution in the transmission of excitation through sympathetic ganglia

✍ Scribed by T. Tóth

• Publisher: Springer
• Year: 1981
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 291 KB
• Volume: 43
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1522-9602
• DOI: 10.1016/s0092-8240(81)80086-9

✦ Synopsis

Various observations suggest that sympathetic ganglia act as local integrative centers redistributing preganglionic excitation (i.e_ the information issued by the central nervous system) to the postganglionic fibers (and effector organs). In order to support this concept a simple mathematical model of the elementary integration process, treating the case of a single preganglionic compound action potential, has been developed. This quantitative description, based on a few elementary assumptions, shows a possible way of processing preganglionic excitation in the ganglion. It is shown that on a particular ganglion cell the probability distribution of the number of activated synapses obeys hypergeometric distribution and hence, the postganglionic compound action potential is built up of several compound action potentials occurring at different times. The former correspond to different groups of firing cells. The model discloses modes of structural and temporal pattern generation performed by the sympathetic ganglion.