Anatomy of synaptic circuits controlling the activity of sympathetic preganglionic neurons

Sympathetic preganglionic neurons (SPN) are critical links in the sympathetic neural circuitry that controls every organ in the body. All sympathetic outflow to the periphery comes from SPN, which send their axons from thoracic and upper lumbar spinal segments to innervate post-ganglionic neurons in sympathetic ganglia and chromaffin cells in the adrenal medulla. Despite over 30 years of study, we still do not have a sufficiently detailed understanding of the synaptic circuits through which these important neurons receive information from other central sites. We know that there is direct synaptic input to SPN from both supraspinal and intraspinal neurons, but not sensory neurons. Ultrastructural studies support functional evidence that amino acids are the primary fast-acting transmitters controlling SPN activity and indicate that an amino acid transmitter occurs in every synaptic input to an SPN. In addition, axons that synapse on SPN contain neuropeptides and monoamines, which would co-exist with and be released with the amino acids. Receptors and transporters for transmitters have also been localized in SPN inputs. Light and electron microscopic observations suggest that there are qualitative and/or quantitative differences in the neurochemical types and origins of axons, which provide synaptic input to SPN that supply different targets or have different functions. However, more research is required before it can be confirmed that SPN receive projection- or function-specific patterns of innervation. This information is likely to be important if we are to understand how the central nervous system differentially regulates sympathetic outflow to different target tissues.