The amount of compensatory sweating depends on the patient, the damage that the white rami communicans incurs, and the amount of cell body reorganization in the spinal cord after surgery.
Other potential complications include inadequate resection of the ganglia, gustatory sweating, pneumothorax, cardiac dysfunction, post-operative pain, and finally Horner’s syndrome secondary to resection of the stellate ganglion.
www.ubcmj.com/pdf/ubcmj_2_1_2010_24-29.pdf

After severing the cervical sympathetic trunk, the cells of the cervical sympathetic ganglion undergo transneuronic degeneration
After severing the sympathetic trunk, the cells of its origin undergo complete disintegration within a year.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1439-0442.1967.tb00255.x/abstract

Monday, June 30, 2008

Norepinephrine - motivation and pleasure

Both norepinephrine and dopamine (sometimes called the "feelgood" chemical, because it's associated with motivation and pleasure) are the triggers for communication along the pathways between the basal ganglia, deep in the brain, and the prefrontal cortex, sometimes referred to as the brain's command centre because it controls executive functions such as problem-solving, attention and reasoning. It's believed (though it's hard to find strong evidence) that ADHD results from function reduction in dopamine and/or norepinephrine levels in the brain.
Nikki Barrowclough

31 March 2007
The Age