FINE STRUCTURE OF PRIMARY AFFERENT AXON TERMINALS PROJECTING FROM RAPIDLY ADAPTING MECHANORECEPTORS OF THE TOE AND FOOT PADS OF THE CAT

¹ Department of Veterinary Physiology, University of Edinburgh, Summerhall, Edinburgh EH9 1QH
² The Experimental Neurology Unit, The Australian National University, John Curtin School of Medical Research, Box. 334, Canberra, Australia

Two Pacinian corpuscle afferents and two rapidly adapting afferents from Krause corpuscles were intra-axonally labelled with horseradish peroxidase in the lumbosacral enlargement of the cat's spinal cord. Tissue was prepared for combined light and electron microscopical analysis. Boutons from both classes of afferent had similar ultrastructural appearances. They both formed from one to three synaptic junctions with dendritic shafts and spines and received axo-axonic synapses. In addition, both categories of bouton were seen to be presynaptic to structures interpreted as vesicle-containing dendrites. It is concluded that both types of afferent fibre are subject to presynaptic control and that they synapse with dorsal horn neurones which are possibly interneurones involved in primary afferent depolarization and post-synaptic dorsal column neurones.

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