Axonal Branching and Recovery of Coordinated Muscle Activity after Transsection of the Facial Nerve in Adult Rats

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Outline of the general neurobiological problem. - The perikarya which support axonal regrowth are hyperexcitable.- Axonal regrowth is compromised by ephaptic cross-talk between the branches.- Biological significance of axonal branching.- Role of cytoskeleton reorganization during axonal branching.- The individual guidance cues promoting reinnervation of original targets are still unknown.- Conclusion.- Outline of the clinical problem.- Questions still open.- Methodological approach.- Materials and methods.- First set of experiments: attempts to reduce collateral axonal branching by alterations of the trigeminal input to the facial perikarya.- Second set of experiments: attempts to reduce collateral axonal branching at the lesion site.- Results.- First set of experiments: influence of the altered afferent input to axotomized facial perikarya on the quality of reinnervation.- Second set of experiments:attempts to reduce collateral axonal branching at the lesion site.- Discussion.- The combined approach to evaluate the quality of peripheral nerve regeneration.- Sensory-motor integrity as a factor for motor regeneration.- Collateral branching versus terminal sprouting of axons.- Prospects for the future.- References.- Subject index.