baroreceptor

Arterial baroreceptors are located in the carotid sinus & the aortic arch. Other baroreceptors are located in the cardiac ventricles. Afferents: - afferents from the carotid sinus & the aortic arch baroreceptors travel in the vagus & glossopharyngeal nerves to the nucleus solitarius where they synapse - projections extend to the nucleus ambiguous (parasympathetic nucleus) & to the rostral & caudal ventrolateral medulla (sympathetic nuclei) - baraoreceptor signals are processed, integrated, & a response is elicited Efferents: - parasympathetic efferent fibers travel via the vagus nerve to the cardiac plexus & to end organs - sympathetic efferents extend to preganglionic cell bodies of the sympathetic nerves contained in the intermediolateral cell column - preganglionic fibers then synapse with postganglionic sympathetic fibers in the stellate ganglion & other sympathetic ganglia - post-ganglionic sympathetic fibers synapse on end organs

References

Practial ECG Interpretation, Basci Electrocardiography & Cardiac Arrhythmias, T. Evans, M.D., UCSF, Ring Montain Press, 1998