ABSTRACT
This chapter examines evidence for several possible chemical links in the nonadrenergic neural control of cerebral arteries. Despite a number of early observations suggesting a role for nerves, the metabolism theory of the regulation of the cerebral circulation was dominant for a long time. Atropine has been shown to specifically reduce neurogenic vasodilation in major cerebral arteries of the cat — the exact magnitude of reduction varying remarkably from one individual animal to another and from one vessel to another. Vasoactive intestinal polypeptide was first identified in perivascular nerves of the cerebral vasculature of the cat by L. I. Larsson et al. The origin of the dilator fibers to the cerebral circulation is unknown — although nests of cells have been identified along the course of cranial nerves in locations that are consistent with early functional studies. Cerebral arteries are equipped with Neuropeptide tyrosine-containing nerve endings which probably originate from cell bodies in the superior cervical sympathetic ganglia.
