Sensory neurons of the cranial ganglia -the neural crest forms most of the peripheral nervous system, in contrast to the neural tube, which is the embryonic source of the central nervous system. the sensory neurons of the cranial and spinal sensory ganglia (e.g., dorsal root ganglia), sympathetic chain ganglia, postganglionic sympathetic and parasympathetic fibers of the autonomic nervous system, cells of the pia and arachnoid, schwann cells, and satellite cells of the dorsal root ganglia are neural elements derived from neural crest. nonneuronal structures formed from neural crest include melanocytes of the skin, odontoblasts in teeth, derivatives of the branchial arch cartilages (e.g., pinnae of ear), and the adrenal medulla (not the adrenal cortex, e.g., zona granulosa). the adrenal medulla represents postganglionic sympathetic fibers that respond to inputs from preganglionic sympathetic fibers in splanchnic nerves. ventral horn cells are derived from the neuroepithelium of the neural tube.
