Quantitative Diameter Analysis of Lingual Nerve Axons in Man

Abstract

Previous studies on axon counts and fiber-diameter spectra in lingual nerves have been carried out only on animal models. This study reports an histological investigation on a series of 20 lingual nerves removed post mortem from human subjects. The results show wide variation in the myelinated fiber counts — a variation which does not appear to be related to the ages of the subjects. When the results are compared with those of a previous study (Heasman and Beynon, 1983), it is seen that the lingual nerve:inferior dental nerve ratio of axon counts is not a consistent index. The fiber-diameter spectrum for the human lingual nerve is characterized by a bimodal curve with the more pronounced peak in the small-diameter fiber range.