In
vertebrate anatomy, a
ganglion is a
tissue mass that contains the
dendrites and central bodies (or "somas") of
nerve cells, in most case ones belonging to the
peripheral nervous system . Within the
central nervous system such a mass is often called as nucleus. An interconnected group of ganglia is called a
plexus.
There are two major groups of ganglia: spinal ganglia and autonomic ganglia. The former contains the cell bodies of sensory nerves and the latter contains the cell bodies of autonomic nerves.
See also: nervous system, neuron