Physiological and ultrastructural observations on regenerated carotid sinus nerves after removal of the carotid bodies in cats

The results indicate that chemoreceptivity is not a property of carotid sinus nerve sensory axons when they are allowed to regenerate freely into the area of the carotid bifurcation after removing the carotid body. Consequently, these observations do not provide support for theories which consider chemoreception to be an intrinsic property of carotid sinus neurons. It is concluded that some extrinsic factor normally provided by the carotid body is essential to the transduction process which initiates depolarization of the sensory axons terminating within this organ.