Wathey J C
Department of Neurosciences, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla 92093.
J Comp Physiol A. 1988 Mar;162(4):511-24. doi: 10.1007/BF00612516.
A homolog of the Edinger-Westphal nucleus of other vertebrates is described in two species of serranid basses of the genus Paralabrax, a group possessing a wide range of ocular accommodation but lacking a pupillary reflex to light. The nucleus was found by retrograde labeling from the ciliary ganglion and lies dorsolateral to the ipsilateral oculomotor nucleus. The nucleus consists of 60 to 100 neurons with an average soma diameter of about 20 microns in animals weighing 70 to 150 g. Electrophysiological experiments support the identification. Microstimulation of the nucleus evokes contraction of the ipsilateral lens retractor muscle and slight constriction of the caudal ipsilateral iris. Multi- and single-unit recordings in the nucleus reveal spontaneous firing (about 30 spikes/s in single units), the rate of which decreases during visually-evoked lens retractor relaxations (accommodation to near stimuli). Recordings of muscle fiber activity in the lens retractor show essentially the same behavior, which suggests that the ciliary ganglion and neuromuscular junctions simply relay impulses with little if any synaptic integration. The existence of a discrete Edinger-Westphal nucleus devoted largely to accommodation makes Paralabrax a good model system for the further tracing of central accommodation control pathways.
在副叶鲈属的两种锯盖鱼科鲈鱼中描述了其他脊椎动物动眼神经副核的同源物，这一群体具有广泛的眼调节能力，但缺乏对光的瞳孔反射。通过睫状神经节逆行标记发现了该核，它位于同侧动眼神经核的背外侧。在体重70至150克的动物中，该核由60至100个神经元组成，平均胞体直径约为20微米。电生理实验支持了这一鉴定。对该核进行微刺激会引起同侧晶状体牵缩肌收缩和同侧尾侧虹膜轻微收缩。在该核中的多单位和单单位记录显示有自发放电（单单位约为30个峰/秒），在视觉诱发的晶状体牵缩肌松弛（对近刺激的调节）期间，其放电频率会降低。晶状体牵缩肌中肌肉纤维活动的记录显示出基本相同的行为，这表明睫状神经节和神经肌肉接头只是简单地传递冲动，几乎没有突触整合。存在一个主要用于调节的离散动眼神经副核，使得副叶鲈成为进一步追踪中枢调节控制通路的良好模型系统。
