Synaptic connectivity and ultrastructrue of the masseteric muscle spindle afferent trigeminals according to geometric location in the trigeminal motor nucleus of the cat / 대한해부학회지

The purpose of this study was to investigate any relationship between the geometric factors of synaptic contacts of muscle spindle afferent terminals and masseteric motor neurons in the trigeminal motor nucleus. Terminals from the masseteric muscle spindle afferents were stained with intra-axonal injection of HRP and were examined electronmi-croscopically with serial sections at the central and peripheral regions of trigeminal motor nucleus of the cat. The number of terminals examined were 76 in peripheral and 105 in central region. The results obtained were as follows. 1. Most of the labeled terminals showed simple synaptic connectivity. Each terminals in peripheral and central region made synaptic contact with 1 to 5 neuronal profiles. Two or three labeled terminals were occasionally seen to make synaptic contact with the same dendrite. 2. The average number of postsynaptic proximal dendrite per labeled terminal was higher in the central region than in the peripheral region. In contrast, that of postsynaptic distal dendrite per labeled terminal was higher in the peripheral region than in the central region. 3. The average diameter of postsynaptic dendrites in the central region was larger than that in the peripheral region. This imply terminals in the peripheral region contacted with further distal part of the distal dendrite than that in the central region. These results indicate that synaptic connectivity associated with the spindle afferents from masseteric muscle is different according to their geometric location within the trigeminal motor nucleus and suggest that there will be precise interrelationship between the morphology, pattern of synaptic connectivity and functions of muscle spindle afferents.

A comparative study on the standard and individually corrected radiographs in TMJ transcranial radiography / 대한치과교정학회지

Among the radiographs for temporomandibular joint, transcranial radiograph is widely used for screening and diagnosing temporomandibular disorder because it has sharp image and it is easy to take. This study was performed to compare condylar position and image sharpness in standard and individually corrected transcranial radiographs using Accurad-200 headholder. Submentovertex view, Reverse-Towne view, Standard and individually corrected transcranial radiographs of 45 university students who were randomly selected were traced, measured and analyzed. The results were as follows: 1. The means of condylar axes and lateral slopes were 16.8degrees and 22.5degrees respectively. There were no differences between male and female or right and left side. 2. Individually corrected radiographs showed smaller posterior joint space and larger anterior joint space than standard radiographs, but superior joint space did not show a statistical difference between standard and individually corrected radiographs. 3. While a large number(42.2%) of the standard radiographs showed concentric condylar position, lots of(57.8) condylar positions were retropositioned in the individually corrected radiographs. 4. The image sharpness was inferior in the individually corrected radiographs to that of the standard radiographs.