Modified working heart brainstem preparation for studying spike propagation through the dorsal root ganglion

The dorsal root ganglion (DRG) contains cell bodies of peripheral somatosensory nerves. These nerves generate and transmit to the CNS signals related to physical changes in the body's immediate environment or state of internal organs. DRG neurons are pseudounipolar with a short stem axon branching into peripheral and central (dorsal root; DR) aspects. Peripheral branches innervate the end organs (e.g. skin, muscle etc.), while DRs synapse in the spinal cord. On the way from peripheral nerve endings to synaptic terminals, spikes pass through branching points (t-junctions) in the ganglia.