REFLEX ACTIVITY WITHIN THE SYMPATHETIC NERVOUS SYSTEM

Abstract

Changes in skin resistance in the pad of a cat''s forepaw occur in response to reflex activity of the sympathetic nervous system. Exps. in which the afferent nerve supply of the right foreleg was interrupted (with right intrathoracic sympathectomy also in some cases) and stimuli applied showed that a certain fraction of these reflex impulses are mediated solely through the stellate ganglion; i.e., they are true sympathetic reflexes and require no central connection of the stellate ganglion. The afferent fiber carries impulses probably from the blood vessels or deeply lying tissues of the forelimb, through the grey ramus, to its cell of origin in the stellate ganglion. There synaptic relations with efferent neurones occur.