Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-7cvxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T04:51:52.740Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Chapter 2 - Interoceptive Afferent Neurons and Autonomic Regulation with Special Emphasis on the Viscera

from Part I - The Autonomic Nervous System: Functional Anatomy and Interoceptive Afferents

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 July 2022

Wilfrid Jänig
Wilfrid Jänig
Affiliation:
Christian-Albrechts Universität zu Kiel, Germany
Get access

Summary

Visceral organs are innervated by vagal and spinal visceral afferent neurons. Of the axons in the vagal nerves, 85% are afferent and have their cell bodies in the nodose or jugular ganglion. Vagal afferents are involved in autonomic reflexes and regulation, and in visceral sensations but not pain. They project viscerotopically to the nucleus tractus solitarii. Spinal visceral afferent neurons have their cell bodies in the dorsal root ganglia. They are involved in organ reflexes, organ regulation (pelvic organs), extraspinal "peripheral" reflexes, protective "axon reflex"-mediated effector reactions, non-painful visceral sensations and visceral pain. Thoracolumbar spinal visceral afferent neurons are polymodal and activated by mechanical and chemical stimuli. Sacral visceral afferent neurons are involved in specific organ regulation, and sacro-lumbar reflexes. Spinal visceral afferents project to lamina I, lamina V and deeper laminae of the spinal gray matter. All spinal neurons receiving synaptic input from spinal visceral afferents are convergent viscero-somatic neurons. In primates, lamina I neurons project topographically to the posterior part of the ventromedial nucleus of the thalamus. This nucleus projects topographically to the dorsal posterior insula, which is the primary interoceptive cortex and represents sensations related to the states of the body tissues.

Keywords

Dorsal posterior insulainteroceptioninteroceptive cortexnucleus tractus solitariispinal lamina Ivisceral afferent neuronsspinalvagalvisceral nociceptionvisceral pain
Type
Chapter
Information
The Integrative Action of the Autonomic Nervous System
Neurobiology of Homeostasis
 , pp. 34 - 70
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Suggested Reading

Bielefeld, T. K. and Gebhart, G. F. (2013) Visceral pain: basic mechanisms. In Wall and Melzack’s Textbook of Pain, 6th edn (McMahon, S. B., Koltzenburg, M., Tracy, I. and Turk, D.C., eds.) pp. 703–717, Elsevier Saunders, Philadelphia.Google Scholar
Cervero, F. (1994) Sensory innervation of the viscera: peripheral basis of visceral pain. Physiol Rev 74, 95–138.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Craig, A. D. (2015) How Do You Feel? An Interoceptive Moment with Your Neurobiological Self, Princeton University Press, Princeton, Oxford.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Craig, A. D. (2018) Central neural substrates involved in temperature discrimination, thermal pain, thermal comfort, and thermoregulatory behavior. In Thermoregulation: From Basic Neuroscience to Clinical Neurology. Part I. Handbook of Clinical Neurology, Vol 156 (Romanovsky, A. A., ed.) pp. 317–338, Elsevier, Amsterdam.Google Scholar
Dostrovsky, J. O. and Craig, A. D. (2013) Ascending projection systems. In Wall and Melzack’s Textbook of Pain, 6th edn (McMahon, S. B., Koltzenburg, M., Tracey, I., and Turk, D. C., eds.) pp. 182–197, Elsevier Saunders, Philadelphia.Google Scholar
Evrard, H. C. (2019) The organization of the primate insular cortex. Front Neuroanat 13, 43.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jänig, W. (2014) [Neurobiology of visceral pain]. Schmerz 28, 233–251.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jänig, W. (2020a) Sympathetic nervous system and pain. In The Senses: A Comprehensive Reference, Vol 5 – Pain, 2nd edn (Pogatzki-Zahn, E. and Schaible, H. G., eds.) pp. 349–378, Elsevier Academic Press, Amsterdam.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jänig, W. and Morrison, J. F. B. (1986) Functional properties of spinal visceral afferents supplying abdominal and pelvic organs, with special emphasis on visceral nociception. Prog Brain Res 67, 87–114.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×