A ganglion (pl.: ganglia) is a group of neuron cell bodies in the peripheral nervous system. In the somatic nervous system, this includes dorsal root ganglia and trigeminal ganglia among a few others. In the autonomic nervous system, there are both sympathetic and parasympathetic ganglia which contain the cell bodies of postganglionic sympathetic and parasympathetic neurons respectively.
A pseudoganglion looks like a ganglion, but only has nerve fibers and has few nerve cell bodies.
The peripheral nervous system (PNS) is one of two components that make up the nervous system of bilateral animals, with the other part being the central nervous system (CNS). The PNS consists of nerves and ganglia, which lie outside the brain and the spinal cord. The main function of the PNS is to connect the CNS to the limbs and organs, essentially serving as a relay between the brain and spinal cord and the rest of the body. Unlike the CNS, the PNS is not protected by the vertebral column and skull, or by the blood–brain barrier, which leaves it exposed to toxins.
The peripheral nervous system can be divided into a somatic division and an autonomic division. Each of these can further be differentiated into a sensory and a motor sector. In the somatic nervous system, the cranial nerves are part of the PNS with the exceptions of the olfactory nerve and epithelia and the optic nerve (cranial nerve II) along with the retina, which are considered parts of the central nervous system based on developmental origin. The second cranial nerve is not a true peripheral nerve but a tract of the diencephalon. Cranial nerve ganglia, as with all ganglia, are part of the PNS. The autonomic nervous system exerts involuntary control over smooth muscle and glands.
Bilateria (/ˌbaɪləˈtɪəriə/) is a large clade of animals characterised by bilateral symmetry during embryonic development. This means their body plans are laid around a longitudinal axis with a front (or "head") and a rear (or "tail") end, as well as a left–right–symmetrical belly (ventral) and back (dorsal) surface. Nearly all bilaterians maintain a bilaterally symmetrical body as adults; the most notable exception is the echinoderms, which have pentaradial symmetry as adults, but bilateral symmetry as embryos. With few exceptions, bilaterian embryos are triploblastic, having three germ layers: endoderm, mesoderm and ectoderm, and have complete digestive tracts with a separate mouth and anus. Some bilaterians lack body cavities, while others have a primary body cavity derived from the blastocoel, or a secondary cavity, the coelom. Cephalization is a characteristic feature among most bilaterians, where the sense organs and central nerve ganglia become concentrated at the front end of the animal.
Bilaterians constitute one of the five main lineages of animals, the other four being Porifera (sponges), Cnidaria (jellyfish, hydrozoans, sea anemones and corals), Ctenophora (comb jellies) and Placozoa. They rapidly diversified in the late Ediacaran and the Cambrian, and are now by far the most successful animal lineage, with over 98% of known animal species. Bilaterians are traditionally classified as either deuterostomes or protostomes, based on whether the blastopore becomes the anus or mouth. The phylum Xenacoelomorpha, once thought to be flatworms, was erected in 2011, and has provided an extra challenge to bilaterian taxonomy, as they likely do not belong to either group.
Arthropods (/ˈɑːrθrəˌpɒd/ AR-thrə-pod) are invertebrates in the phylum Arthropoda. They possess an exoskeleton with a cuticle made of chitin, often mineralised with calcium carbonate, a body with differentiated (metameric) segments, and paired jointed appendages. In order to keep growing, they must go through stages of moulting, a process by which they shed their exoskeleton to reveal a new one. They form an extremely diverse group of up to ten million species.
Haemolymph is the analogue of blood for most arthropods. An arthropod has an open circulatory system, with a body cavity called a haemocoel through which haemolymph circulates to the interior organs. Like their exteriors, the internal organs of arthropods are generally built of repeated segments. They have ladder-like nervous systems, with paired ventral nerve cords running through all segments and forming paired ganglia in each segment. Their heads are formed by fusion of varying numbers of segments, and their brains are formed by fusion of the ganglia of these segments and encircle the esophagus. The respiratory and excretory systems of arthropods vary, depending as much on their environment as on the subphylum to which they belong.
Cephalization is an evolutionary trend in bilaterian animals that, over a sufficient number of generations, concentrates the special sense organs and nerve ganglia towards the front of the body where the mouth is located, often producing an enlarged head. This is associated with the animal's movement direction and bilateral symmetry. Cephalization of the nervous system has led to the formation of a brain with varying degrees of functional centralization in three phyla of bilaterian animals, namely the arthropods, cephalopod molluscs, and vertebrates. Hox genes organise aspects of cephalization in the bilaterians.
The segmental ganglia (singular: s. ganglion) are ganglia of the annelid and arthropod central nervous system that lie in the segmented ventral nerve cord. The ventral nerve cord itself is a chain of metamerism ganglia, some compressed.
In neuroanatomy, the cranial nerve ganglia are ganglia of certain cranial nerves. They can be parasympathetic or sensory. All cranial nerve ganglia are bilateral.