Virtual Lab

Nervous System

	Plate	Figure	Slide	Comments
A. Peripheral Nervous System
1. Nerve fiber endings
a. Motor endings	30	3	43	Motor endings on muscle fibers. Find the motor end plates which consist of ramifications of the ends of motor nerve fibers that terminate in bulbous expansions on the surface of the muscle fibers. The region between the nerve and the muscle is devoid of Schwann cell covering and the muscle is indented to form a synaptic gutter.
b. Receptors	62 62	2 3	41 42 63	Pacinian corpuscles, whole mount (41) and sections (42), H&E. Pacinian corpuscles are pressure receptors located in tissues throughout the body. Meissner's corpuscle, section from the skin. Meissner's corpuscles are mechanoreceptors located in the dermal ridges and papilla of the skin.
2. Ganglia
a. Autonomic ganglion	37	1,2	31 31b	Human sympathetic ganglion, H&E.
			110	Parasympathetic ganglion, bronchus, H&E
			suppl.	Enteric ganglion (Meissner's plexus), ileum, H&E
			suppl. a suppl. b	Enteric ganglion (Auerbach's plexus), colon, H&E
			suppl.	Enteric ganglion (Auerbach's plexus), esophagus, H&E
b. Dorsal root ganglion	37	3,4	29 30 suppl. suppl.	Spinal cord with ganglion, AZAN. Spinal cord with ganglion, H&E. Plastic section, H&E Silver stained
3. Peripheral nerves	40	1-4	29	Spinal nerve (dorsal root nerve), AZAN. Identify nerves in this and the various tissues listed below. Where possible, locate the nodes of Ranvier and differentiate between the nerve fiber and the surrounding myelin (Schwann cell) sheath.
			34	Peripheral nerve, H&E.
			45	Peripheral nerve, H&E.
			85	Peripheral nerve, H&E.
			110	Bronchus, H&E.
			129	Penis, H&E.
			suppl.	Peripheral nerve, H&E.
			32	Peripheral nerve, teased, osmic acid. Osmium stains the myelin sheaths of nerve fibers black. Note the constrictions in the sheaths. These are the nodes of Ranvier which mark the site where two adjacent Schwann cells abut.
			33	Frog sciatic nerve, osmic acid.

	Plate	Figure	Slide	Comments
B. Central Nervous System
1. Cerebrum	42	1-5	36 37 136	Brain, mammal, H&E.
1. Cerebrum	-	-	39 40	Cerebrum, Golgi silver stain. Compare this preparation, which more clearly shows the nerve cell fibers, with the previous ones.
2. Cerebellum	43	1,2	36 37 136	Brain, mammal, H&E.
2. Cerebellum	43	3,4	38	Cerebellum, Golgi silver stain. Note the large, branching Purkinje cells which are characteristic of the cerebellum. Compare this preparation with the previous slides.
3. Spinal cord	44	1,2	29s 29a 30 suppl.	Spinal cord: silver (29s), AZAN (29sa), H&E (30) or silver (supplement).
	44	3	28	Spinal cord, Nissl stain.
	none	-	27	Spinal cord, smear. Compare this slide with previous preparations. Identify as many structures and cell types as you can.
4. Neuroglia	none	-	35a 35b	Neuroglia, del Rio-Hortega's silver carbonate method. This stains the astrocytes black. These cells provide the connective tissue framework for the central nervous system. Astrocytes are branching cells with long processes. Astrocytes with thin, slender processes are called fibrous astroglia (35a) and those with much thicker processes are called protoplasmic astroglia (35b). Both types may form specialized attachments to blood vessels called foot plates. Note: fibrous astrocytes are found in the white matter, whereas protoplasmic astrocytes are found in the gray matter.
5. Medulla	none	-	136	Brain, mammal, H&E.

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