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Motor and Sensory Innervation of Extraocular Eye Muscles
Institute of Anatomy, Ludwig-Maximilians University of Munich, 80336 Munich, Germany
Address for correspondence: Prof. J.A. Büttner-Ennever, Institute of Anatomy, Ludwig-Maximilians University, Pettenkoferstr. 11, D-80336 Munich, Germany. Voice: +49 89 5160 4851/4876; fax: +49 89 5160 4857. buettner{at}anat.med.uni-muenchen.de Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. 1004: 40-49 (2003).
Eye muscles are unusual in several ways; one is that they have up to three different layers—the inner global layer, the outer orbital layer, and in some species an external marginal layer has been described. In sheep this is called the "peripheral patch layer." Three different types of proprioceptors are found in eye muscles—muscle spindles, Golgi tendon organs, and palisade endings. A survey of the organization of their location leads us to the hypothesis that each receptor is confined to a separate layer of the eye muscle. The palisade endings are associated with the global layer, the muscle spindles lie predominantly in the orbital layer, and the Golgi tendon organs are found only in the peripheral patch layer. This well-organized scheme may help us to understand the proprioceptive system in eye muscles.
Key Words: non-twitch motoneurons • palisade endings • innervated myotendinous cylinders • global layer • orbital layer • pulleys • eye movements • Golgi tendon organs • muscle spindles • medial rectus C-group • final common pathway This article has been cited by other articles:
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