Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 14, 2026

Facial Nerve Axotomy in Mice: A Model to Study Motoneuron Response to Injury
Published on: February 23, 2015
Ultrastructure of gamma-motoneurons after temporary or permanent interruption of peripheral target contact
I P Johnson1, Y S Simaika, T A Sears
1Department of Anatomy, Queen Mary and Westfield College, London, UK.
Abstract:
The paradigm of nerve crush, vs. nerve transection and ligation, was used to examine the effects of temporary or permanent interruption of peripheral target contact on the ultrastructure of cat thoracic gamma-motoneurons. The normal, highly ordered ultrastructure of Nissl bodies was lost 8 days after axotomy. Nissl bodies remained disorganised up to 305 days after nerve transection and ligation. In contrast, normal ultrastructural orderliness was restored for many of the Nissl bodies of gamma-motoneurons 64 days following nerve crush. A decrease in the area of the Golgi apparatus was found 64 days following both nerve crush and nerve transection with ligation. Other organelles were unaltered.
Related Concept Videos
Neuromuscular Junction And Blockade
The Neuromuscular Junction
Motor Unit Stimulation
The latent period of contraction marks the onset of excitation-contraction coupling, when the action potential propagates across the sarcolemma, preparing the muscle fibers for contraction. As the fibers enter the contraction phase, the...
Spinal Cord: Information Processing
Sensory Information Processing
Sensory information processing begins at the sensory receptors located in the skin and other tissues, which detect somatic sensory stimuli such as touch, temperature, or pain. These receptors function as catalysts, initiating...

