The anatomical localization of descending pressor pathways in the cat spinal cord

Functional evidence suggests the location of descending pressor pathways in the bilateral dorsolateral funiculus (DLF). To investigate the anatomical course of these pathways, orthograde degeneration studies were conducted following unilateral lesions of the DLF at the C6-C7 spinal level. Degenerating fiber tracts were localized exclusively in the ipsilateral DLF. Degeneration was also demonstrated in the central portion of the intermediate spinal gray matter, but little or no degeneration in the intermediolateral cell column. This evidence suggests that these descending pathways do not terminate on sympathetic preganglionic cell bodies or their proximal dendrites, but perhaps upon their more distal dendrites or interneurons.