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Current Concepts on the Evolution of the Neurosecretory Neuron

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Neurosecretion and Neuroendocrine Activity

Abstract

Neurosecretory neurons can be defined as nerve cells that engage in secretory activity to a degree which greatly surpasses that of conventional neurons, and which is comparable to that of gland cells. The capacity of these specialized neuronal elements for controlling effector cells by means of neurohormonal signalling and the absence, at least in classic neurosecretory neurons, of contacts with postsynaptic cells represent significant deviations from the norm as formulated by the neuron doctrine. What is the rationale for the phenomenon of neurosecretion, and what is its place within the spectrum of neurochemical mediation?

Part of the studies referred to in this article have been supported by research grants NB-05219, NB-00840, and 5 PO-1-NS-07512 from the U.S.P.H.S. and by N.S.F. grant BMS 74-12456.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anatomy, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York, 10461, USA

    B. Scharrer

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  1. B. Scharrer
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Anatomisches Institut der Universität, 2300, Kiel, Germany

    W. Bargmann

  2. Zentrum für Anatomie und Cytobiologie der Justus Liebig-Universität, 6300, Giessen, Germany

    A. Oksche

  3. Laboratory of Neuroendocrinology Sechenov Institute of Evolutionary Physiology and Biochemistry, Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Leningrad, USSR

    A. L. Polenov

  4. Department of Anatomy, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York, 10461, USA

    B. Scharrer

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© 1978 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Scharrer, B. (1978). Current Concepts on the Evolution of the Neurosecretory Neuron. In: Bargmann, W., Oksche, A., Polenov, A.L., Scharrer, B. (eds) Neurosecretion and Neuroendocrine Activity. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-66885-2_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-66885-2_3

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-66887-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-66885-2

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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