In a previous study1 the structure of a typical cerebrospinal nerve root was investigated. The present study is concerned with the difference in structure of the various cerebrospinal nerve roots. Such a study has enabled the formulation of criteria for differentiating sensory and motor nerve roots. As a result, it has been possible to establish some degree of correlation between the structure and the function of certain roots of the mixed cranial nerves.
That nerve roots vary with respect to the length of their glial segments has been recognized since the discovery of neuroglia. Virchow2 called attention to the occurrence of neuroglia along the acoustic nerve. Henneberg and Koch3 demonstrated a neuroglial extension constituting the central part of all nerve roots except the olfactory and the optic. It will be seen later that, like subsequent investigators, Henneberg and Koch were in error in their conception
TARLOV IM. STRUCTURE OF THE NERVE ROOT: II. DIFFERENTIATION OF SENSORY FROM MOTOR ROOTS; OBSERVATIONS ON IDENTIFICATION OF FUNCTION IN ROOTS OF MIXED CRANIAL NERVES. Arch NeurPsych. 1937;37(6):1338–1355. doi:https://doi.org/10.1001/archneurpsyc.1937.02260180118008
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