Question

For the sympathetic (thoracolumbar) division, understand the structure of the sympathetic chain ganglion and the three pathways that the motor commands can take. How does its peculiar wiring pattern structure relate to the kinds of functions that it controls?

Answer 1

Sympathetic ganglia are the cluster of the sympathetic nervous system. They deliver information to the body about stress and impending danger, and are responsible for the familiar fight-or-flight response. They contain approximately 20,000–30,000 nerve cell bodies and are located close to and on either side of the spinal cord in long chains.

The bilaterally symmetric sympathetic chain ganglia, also called the paravertebral ganglia, are located just ventral and lateral to thespinal cord. The chain extends from the upper neck down to the coccyx, forming the unpaired coccygeal ganglion. Preganglionic nerves from the spinal cord synapse at one of the chain ganglia, and the postganglionic fiber extends to an effector, a visceral organ in thethoracic cavity, abdominal cavity, or pelvic cavity.