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Science 27 October 1995:
Vol. 270. no. 5236, pp. 644 - 646
DOI: 10.1126/science.270.5236.644
Prev | Table of Contents

Reports

Central Command Neurons of the Sympathetic Nervous System: Basis of the Fight-or-Flight Response

Arthur S. P. Jansen,  Xay Van Nguyen,  Vladimir Karpitskiy,  Thomas C. Mettenleiter,  Arthur D. Loewy (1)

During stress, the activity of the sympathetic nervous system is changed in a global fashion, leading to an increase in cardiovascular function and a release of adrenal catecholamines. This response is thought to be regulated by a common set of brain neurons that provide a dual input to the sympathetic preganglionic neurons regulating cardiac and adrenal medullary functions. By using a double-virus transneuronal labeling technique, the existence of such a set of central autonomic neurons in the hypothalamus and brainstem was demonstrated. These neurons innervate both of the sympathetic outflow systems and likely function in circumstances where parallel sympathetic processing occurs, such as in the fight-or-flight response.


A. S. P. Jansen, X. V. Nguyen, V. Karpitskiy, A. D. Loewy, Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Washington University School of Medicine, 660 South Euclid Avenue, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA.
T. C. Mettenleiter, Federal Research Centre for Virus Diseases of Animals, Friedrich-Loeffler Institutes, Institute of Molecular and Cellular Virology, D-17498 Insel Riems, Germany.
(1) To whom correspondence should be addressed.


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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)