Neuronal activity of the stellate ganglia in neonatal swine

In anesthetized, paralyzed, and artificially ventilated neonatal pigs, neuronal activity was recorded extracellularly from the intact right stellate ganglion. Of 301 investigated neurons, only a few had spontaneous activity: 27 neurons generated activity either during lung inflation or deflation, and 1 neuron generated activity related to the cardiac cycle. The remaining 273 neurons were activated by stroking of body hair or by light pressure applied to various somatic sites. These data suggest that much of the spontaneous activity in the stellate ganglia appear later during development.