This slide is taken from:

This slide is taken from:

• A. A sensory ganglion
• B. Sympathetic ganglion
• C. Gray matter of the cerebrum
• D. Parasympathetic ganglion

Answer: (B)

The key idea is recognizing tissue by how its nerve cells are arranged and what type they are. A sympathetic ganglion in histology shows small to medium multipolar neurons clustered together, each neuron surrounded by a sleeve of satellite glial (supporting) cells, all enclosed in a loose connective tissue capsule with abundant capillaries. This ganglionic tissue sits along the sympathetic chain, so you often see a compact, cord-like organization rather than a thick, layered cortex. This differs from a sensory (dorsal root) ganglion, which contains large pseudo-unipolar neurons with a single process that splits into two directions and a prominent capsule around each neuron. It also differs from gray matter of the cerebrum, which is arranged in distinct neuronal layers and features many axons in the neuropil rather than discrete, encapsulated ganglia. Parasympathetic ganglia can look similar to sympathetic ones, but they’re typically located near target organs, not along a chain, and their cellular appearance is alike but context (location) helps distinguish them. So, if the slide shows clustered multipolar neurons with satellite cell halos inside a capsule, consistent with autonomic ganglionic tissue along a sympathetic chain, that identifies it as a sympathetic ganglion.

The key idea is recognizing tissue by how its nerve cells are arranged and what type they are. A sympathetic ganglion in histology shows small to medium multipolar neurons clustered together, each neuron surrounded by a sleeve of satellite glial (supporting) cells, all enclosed in a loose connective tissue capsule with abundant capillaries. This ganglionic tissue sits along the sympathetic chain, so you often see a compact, cord-like organization rather than a thick, layered cortex.

This differs from a sensory (dorsal root) ganglion, which contains large pseudo-unipolar neurons with a single process that splits into two directions and a prominent capsule around each neuron. It also differs from gray matter of the cerebrum, which is arranged in distinct neuronal layers and features many axons in the neuropil rather than discrete, encapsulated ganglia. Parasympathetic ganglia can look similar to sympathetic ones, but they’re typically located near target organs, not along a chain, and their cellular appearance is alike but context (location) helps distinguish them.

So, if the slide shows clustered multipolar neurons with satellite cell halos inside a capsule, consistent with autonomic ganglionic tissue along a sympathetic chain, that identifies it as a sympathetic ganglion.