Contents

**Preface XI**



#### Chapter 6 **A5 and A6 Noradrenergic Cell Groups: Implications for Cardiorespiratory Control 113**

Manuel Víctor López-González, Marta González-García and Marc Stefan Dawid-Milner

Preface

medical faculties.

pathetic function.

ment of therapeutic strategies.

The autonomic nervous system comprises one of the most important involuntary control

This book consists of six chapters. The introductory chapter provides a general description of the autonomic nervous system, and the extent to which it is addressed, for example, in

The ensuing chapters review and analyze in detail some of the specifics and the role of the autonomic nervous system in the control of vital functions. Particularly interesting is the re‐ view article by López-González, González-García, and Dawid-Milner, titled "A5 and A6 Noradrenergic Cell Groups: Implications for Cardiorespiratory Control," regarding nora‐ drenergic cell groups at the level of the spinal cord controlling the cardiorespiratory system. These projections play a key role in the modulation of all antinociceptive and autonomic responses elicited by painful or threatening situations. The A6 noradrenergic cell group may have the most significant effect on somatosensory transmission, and the A5 group on sym‐

The shape of dendrites influences the propagation and integration of postsynaptic potentials and determines presynaptic convergence. Dendritc shape is correlated with tonic activity, while aberrant dendritic morphology is associated with disease. There is, therefore, signifi‐ cant interest in understanding how dendritic morphology is regulated in these neurons. In the review article by Chandrasekaran and Lein, titled "Regulation of Dendritogenesis in Sympathetic Neurons," the role of target-derived nerve growth factor in regulating the size of the dendritic arbor of sympathetic neurons *in vivo* is described. In addition, the authors present their own *in vitro* experimental results, which suggest that there are other factors, such as bone morphogenetic proteins, that trigger cultured sympathetic neurons to extend a

Clinical practice may benefit from the article by Kingma, Simard, and Rouleau, titled "Auto‐ nomic Nervous System and Neurocardiac Physiopathology," in which the effect of auto‐ nomic neural dysfunction in arrhythmogenesis is analyzed in detail. Disorders within the autonomic nervous system contribute to pathogenesis of organ injury, comorbidities, and may even impact survival. Improved comprehension of modifications within the cardiac/ neuro axis at the molecular, cellular, organ, and whole-body levels is critical for the develop‐

The review article by Proshchina et al., titled **"**Development of Human Pancreatic Innerva‐ tion,**"** addresses human pancreatic innervation, which is of particular interest due to its pos‐ sible role in the pathogenesis of such diseases as diabetes mellitus, pancreatitis, and

mechanisms modulating the function of the visceral organs.

dendritic arbor comparable with their *in vivo* counterparts.
