Vasodilator Fibres to the Tongue in the Chorda Tympani Proper Nerve

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Abstract
Electrical stimulation of the chorda tympani proper nerve (CT) causes vasodilatation in the constant-flow perfused tongue. It was suggested that the vasodilatation was the result of antidromic impulses in sensory fibers of the CT but, after degeneration of the efferent fibers in the CT in the rat, electrical stimulation of the CT caused no vasodilatation. Since, by all criteria available, the sensory fibers remained, antidromic impulses could not be the cause of the vasodilatation observed in tongues with intact nerve supply. Since there are no glands in the part of the tongue innervated by the CT and the circulation of the large salivary glands is separate from the tongue in the rat, the vasodilatation is apparently not a secondary effect of glandular activity, but is caused by vasodilator fibers in the CT.