The amount of compensatory sweating depends on the patient, the damage that the white rami communicans incurs, and the amount of cell body reorganization in the spinal cord after surgery.
Other potential complications include inadequate resection of the ganglia, gustatory sweating, pneumothorax, cardiac dysfunction, post-operative pain, and finally Horner’s syndrome secondary to resection of the stellate ganglion.
www.ubcmj.com/pdf/ubcmj_2_1_2010_24-29.pdf

After severing the cervical sympathetic trunk, the cells of the cervical sympathetic ganglion undergo transneuronic degeneration
After severing the sympathetic trunk, the cells of its origin undergo complete disintegration within a year.

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1439-0442.1967.tb00255.x/abstract

Sunday, April 13, 2008

A neurotransmitter involved in emotional arousal enhances learning

A neurotransmitter involved in emotional arousal enhances learning by phosphorylating glutamate receptors.

Do you remember the song that was playing during your first kiss? Both positive and negative emotions influence learning and memory but researchers have not determined the mechanism. Now Hu et al. report that the neurotransmitter norepinephrine regulates glutamate receptor trafficking in a recent article in Cell.

Axon terminals containing norepinephrine synapse in the hippocampus and amygdala, which are important in emotional memory. In the hippocampus, norepinephrine reduces the threshold for long-term potentiation (LTP), which is thought to be a substrate of memory. Norepinephrine acts at beta-adrenergic receptors, where it activates cAMP-dependent protein kinase (PKA) and calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII). These kinases phosphorylate serines 845 and 831, respectively, in the AMPA glutamate receptor type 1 (GluR1). The authors proposed that norepinephrine regulates learning by phosphorylating AMPA receptors.

Hu, H. et al. Emotion enhances learning via norepinephrine regulation of AMPA-receptor trafficking. Cell 131, 160–173 (2007). | Article | PubMed |



Emotional intelligence

Neuroscience Gateway (October 2007) | doi:10.1038/aba1787