Ganglion

(Redirected fromGanglia)

This article is about neuron clusters. For other uses, seeGanglion (disambiguation).

"Ganglia" redirects here. For other uses, seeGanglia (disambiguation).

Aganglion (pl.:ganglia) is a group of neuron cell bodies in theperipheral nervous system. In thesomatic nervous system, this includesdorsal root ganglia andtrigeminal ganglia among a few others. In theautonomic nervous system, there are bothsympathetic andparasympathetic ganglia which contain the cell bodies of postganglionic sympathetic and parasympathetic neurons respectively.

Ganglion
Micrograph of a ganglion.H&E stain.
Details
System	Nervous system
Identifiers
Latin	ganglion
MeSH	D005724
TA98	A14.2.00.002
FMA	5884
Anatomical terminology [edit on Wikidata]

A dorsal root ganglion (DRG) from a chicken embryo (around stage of day 7) after incubation overnight in NGF growth medium stained with anti-neurofilament antibody. Note the axons growing out of the ganglion.

Apseudoganglion looks like a ganglion, but only has nerve fibers and has no nerve cell bodies.

Structure

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Ganglia are primarily made up ofsomata anddendritic structures, which are bundled or connected. Ganglia often interconnect with other ganglia to form a complex system of ganglia known as aplexus. Ganglia provide relay points and intermediary connections between different neurological structures in the body, such as theperipheral andcentral nervous systems.

Among vertebrates there are three major groups of ganglia:

Dorsal root ganglia (also known as the spinal ganglia) contain the cell bodies ofsensory (afferent)neurons.
Cranial nerve ganglia contain the cell bodies of cranial nerve neurons.
Autonomic ganglia contain the cell bodies ofautonomic nerves.

In the autonomic nervous system, fibers from thecentral nervous system to the ganglia are known aspreganglionic fibers, while those from the ganglia to the effector organ are calledpostganglionic fibers.

Basal ganglia

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The term "ganglion" refers to theperipheral nervous system.^[1]

However, in the brain (part of thecentral nervous system), thebasal ganglia are a group ofnuclei interconnected with thecerebral cortex,thalamus, andbrainstem, associated with a variety of functions: motor control, cognition, emotions, and learning.^{[citation needed]}

Partly due to this ambiguity, theTerminologia Anatomica recommends using the term 'basal nuclei' instead of 'basal ganglia'; however, this usage has not been generally adopted.^{[citation needed]}

Pseudoganglion

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A pseudoganglion is a localized thickening of the main part or trunk of a nerve that has the appearance of a ganglion^[2] but has only nerve fibers and no nerve cell bodies.

Pseudoganglia are found in theteres minor muscle^[3] andradial nerve.^{[citation needed]}