The ganglia incorporated in the celiac plexus are anatomically and functionally related to the splanchnic nerves. Components of the vagus nerves traverse this plexus but, according to current teaching, vagus nerve fibers do not effect synaptic connections with celiac ganglion cells. The latter, like the ganglion cells in the sympathetic trunk ganglia, have been regarded as constituting the distal links in visceral efferent conduction pathways and, consequently, exclusively efferent in function. This hypothesis, based mainly on the results of early physiological experimentation, has not been controverted by anatomical data. The results of certain recent physiological experiments, however, support the assumption that some of the celiac ganglion cells are involved in reflex mechanisms through which certain gastro-intestinal reflexes may be carried out in the absence of intact conduction pathways between the celiac plexus and the central nervous system.
Methods
The data set forth in the present paper have been obtained from preparations of human celiac ganglia and celiac ganglia of normal and experimental animals (cats). The experimental animals had been subjected A. C. Ivy. Personal communication.
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