ReviewClinical autonomic research : official journal of the Clinical Autonomic Research Society2018
The sacral autonomic outflow is parasympathetic: Langley got it right.
Review in Clinical autonomic research : official journal of the Clinical Autonomic Research Society, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers.
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Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed.
- Central control of gastrointestinal functions in health and disease.Physiological reviews · 2026Review
- RVLM C1 Neurons Innervate Sacral as well as Thoracolumbar Autonomic Preganglionic Neurons in the Rat.The Journal of comparative neurology · 2026Article
- The autonomic nervous system: Time for a conceptual reframing?The Journal of physiology · 2025Review
- Molecular and functional diversity of the autonomic nervous system.Nature reviews. Neuroscience · 2025Review
- Rheumatic diseases and metabolism: where centre and periphery meet.Nature reviews. Rheumatology · 2024Review
- Preclinical Evidence for the Role of Botulinum Neurotoxin A (BoNT/A) in the Treatment of Peripheral Nerve Injury.Microorganisms · 2022Review
- Schwann Cells in Digestive System Disorders.Cells · 2022Review
- Characterisation of parasympathetic ascending nerves in human colon.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2022Article
- Spatiotemporal mapping of sensory and motor innervation of the embryonic and postnatal mouse urinary bladder.Developmental biology · 2021Article
- Neuronal lineages derived from the nerve-associated Schwann cell precursors.Cellular and molecular life sciences : CMLS · 2021Review
- The diversity of neuronal phenotypes in rodent and human autonomic ganglia.Cell and tissue research · 2020Review
- Neuromechanism of acupuncture regulating gastrointestinal motility.World journal of gastroenterology · 2020Review
- Subclinical lipopolysaccharide from Salmonella Enteritidis induces neuropeptide dysregulation in the spinal cord and the dorsal root ganglia.BMC neuroscience · 2019Article
- Sympathetic tales: subdivisons of the autonomic nervous system and the impact of developmental studies.Neural development · 2018Review
- Enteric nervous system development: what could possibly go wrong?Nature reviews. Neuroscience · 2018Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
1 author.
Funding
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Abstract
A recent developmental study of gene expression by Espinosa-Medina, Brunet and colleagues sparked controversy by asserting a revised nomenclature for divisions of the autonomic motor system. Should we re-classify the sacral autonomic outflow as sympathetic, as now suggested, or does it rightly belong to the parasympathetic system, as defined by Langley nearly 100 years ago? Arguments for rejecting Espinosa-Medina, Brunet et al.'s scheme subsequently appeared in e-letters and brief reviews. A more recent commentary in this journal by Brunet and colleagues responded to these criticisms by labeling Langley's scheme as a historical myth perpetuated by ignorance. In reaction to this heated exchange, I now examine both sides to the controversy, together with purported errors by the pioneers in the field. I then explain, once more, why the sacral outflow should remain known as parasympathetic, and outline suggestions for future experimentation to advance the understanding of cellular identity in the autonomic motor system.
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