Sacral parasympathetic nucleus - Spinal cord - Cross-section - e-Anatomy
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Sacral parasympathetic nucleus

Nucleus parasympathicus sacralis

  • Related terms: Sacral parasympathetic nuclei

Definition

Sacral parasympathetic nucleus refers to an aggregation of neuronal cell bodies in the lateral intermediate substance, found in S2, S3 and S4 segments of the spinal cord. These cell groups give rise to the preganglionic parasympathetic autonomic motor neurons for innervating the hindgut and pelvic organs. However–unlike the thoracolumbar spinal region–there is no prominent lateral horn created by the sacral parasympathetic nucleus in the sacral region of spinal cord.

References

Text written by Muhammad A. Javaid, MD, PhD © 2022 IMAIOS.

  • Snell, R.S. (2010). ‘Chapter 4: The Spinal Cord and the Ascending and Descending Tracts’, in Clinical Neuroanatomy. (7th ed.) Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer Health/Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, pp. 137-142.

  • Byrne, J.H. and Dafny, N. ‘Chapter 3: Anatomy of the Spinal Cord. [Content reviewed and revised 07 Oct 2020]. In Neuroanatomy Online, an open-access electronic laboratory for the neurosciences. McGovern Medical School at UTHealth; Accessed 2022 Oct 22. Available from: https://nba.uth.tmc.edu/neuroscience/m/s2/chapter03.html

  • Brown, A.G. (1982). Review article the dorsal horn of the spinal cord. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Physiology: Translation and Integration, 67(2), pp.193-212. https://doi.org/10.1113/expphysiol.1982.sp002630

  • Ganapathy, M.K., Reddy, V. and Tadi, P. Neuroanatomy, Spinal Cord Morphology. [Updated 2021 Oct 30]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2022 Jan-. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK545206/

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