Elsevier

Experimental Neurology

Volume 72, Issue 1, April 1981, Pages 211-225
Experimental Neurology

The role of cervical afferent nerve fiber inhibition of the crossed phrenic phenomenon

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Abstract

High cervical spinal cord hemisection produces a permanent paralysis of the ipsilateral hemidiaphragm. In many species, function is restored to this paretic hemidiaphragm if the contralateral hemidiaphragm is paralyzed by transecting the phrenic nerve. This response is termed the “crossed phrenic phenomenon.” The present study determines the long-term effects on diaphragmatic function after anesthetization or crushing the contralateral phrenic nerve, or after cutting its dorsal roots in rats subjected to a high cervical spinal cord hemisection. Dorsal root transection was the only procedure which resulted in a partial functional recovery of the hemidiaphragm paralyzed by the spinal cord hemisection without a loss of function in the contralateral hemidiaphragm. The results suggest that afferent nerve fibers in the contralateral phrenic nerve may normally inhibit the functional expression of the crossed phrenic pathway, although the precise mechanism for this inhibition is not yet known.

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    1

    This work was supported by a grant from the Paralyzed Veterans of America and by U.S. Public Health Service grant NS14705. The author expresses his sincere appreciation to Dr. Lloyd Guth, Department of Anatomy, University of Maryland School of Medicine, for his advice and critical evaluation of the manuscript.

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