Why Does Peripheral Neuropathy Cause Pain?
Steven Scherer, M.D., Ph.D. William N. Kelley Associate Professor of Neurology The University of Pennsylvania Medical Center Philadelphia, PA 19104-6077 (Editor’s note: This information was presented as part of Dr.Scherer’s presentation at the CMTA patient/family conference at the University of Pennsylvania Medical School.) Peripheral nerves are a collection of nerve fibers that originate from many different kinds of neurons. Motor fibers originate from motor neurons that are located in the spinal cord. Sensory axons originate from neurons that are located outside the spinal cord in large clusters called ganglia. The ganglia that contain the sensory neurons for the leg are located in the low back region (called the lumbar and sacral levels); those for the arm are located in the neck (called the cervical region). Each of these ganglia contains many thousands of sensory neurons. Every sensory neuron has two ends. One end is connected to a tissue in the body (a piece of skin, muscle, bone
