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Pharmacology of the Spinal Cord

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Evoked Spinal Cord Potentials

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Abstract

As in the brain, the presynaptic terminals of most excitatory synapses in the spinal cord release glutamate as a fast excitatory neurotransmitter (Curtis et al., 1959; reviewed in Willis and Coggeshall, 2004). In addition to glutamate, primary afferent terminals of nociceptors can also contain excitatory neuropeptides, such as substance P (SP; De Biasi and Rustioni, 1988) and calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP; Wiesenfeld-Hallin et al., 1984). Aspartate does not appear to be a transmitter in primary afferent terminals, since it is not stored in synaptic vesicles in such endings (Broman and Adahl, 1994). However, aspartate is released from dorsal horn interneurons and may well serve as a fast excitatory transmitter of interneurons, in addition to glutamate.

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Authors
  1. William D. Willis Jr.
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Frontier University Ube Graduate School of Human Sciences, 2-1-1 Bunkyodai, Ube, Yamaguchi, 755-0805, Japan

    Koki Shimoji M.D., Ph.D., FRCA (Professor, Professor Emeritus and Visiting Professor) (Professor, Professor Emeritus and Visiting Professor)

  2. Niigata University, Niigata

    Koki Shimoji M.D., Ph.D., FRCA (Professor, Professor Emeritus and Visiting Professor) (Professor, Professor Emeritus and Visiting Professor)

  3. Saitama Medical College, Japan

    Koki Shimoji M.D., Ph.D., FRCA (Professor, Professor Emeritus and Visiting Professor) (Professor, Professor Emeritus and Visiting Professor)

  4. University of Texas Medical Branch, 301 University Blvd., Galveston, TX, 77555-1069, USA

    William D. Willis Jr. M.D., Ph.D. (Professor of Neuroscience and Cell Biology) (Professor of Neuroscience and Cell Biology)

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© 2006 Springer-Verlag Tokyo

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Willis, W.D. (2006). Pharmacology of the Spinal Cord. In: Shimoji, K., Willis, W.D. (eds) Evoked Spinal Cord Potentials. Springer, Tokyo. https://doi.org/10.1007/4-431-30901-2_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/4-431-30901-2_3

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Tokyo

  • Print ISBN: 978-4-431-24026-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-4-431-30901-7

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

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