The synaptic activities underlying the uropod steering behaviour of crayfish evoked by tilting the substratum beneath the legs have been studied intracellularly in unanaesthetized animals standing or walking on a treadmill. The uropod motoneurones showed little or no synaptic response when the treadmill was tilted while the animal was in a quiescent state and the membrane potential was at its resting value. When the same stimulus was given while the animal was walking or in an active stance on the treadmill, the motoneurones showed transient much-enhanced excitatory or inhibitory responses to tilt, depending on the tilt direction. These responses were superimposed on a sustained level of background excitation so that the spike activity of the motoneurones either increased or decreased. Premotor nonspiking interneurones also showed little or no synaptic response to the tilt stimulus while the animal was resting, but greatly enhanced responses, in either a depolarizing or a hyperpolarizing direction, while the animal was walking or in the active-standing state. The results indicate that the proprioceptor inputs converging onto the uropod motoneurones, either directly or through premotor nonspiking interneurones, are gated not only in the uropod motor system in the terminal abdominal ganglion but also at as yet unidentified sites upstream in anterior ganglia, thus suggesting multiple gate control of the descending proprioceptor pathway.
Neuronal mechanisms underlying the facilitatory control of uropod steering behaviour during treadmill walking in crayfish. II. Modulation Of uropod motoneurone excitation by leg proprioception
M Murayama, M Takahata; Neuronal mechanisms underlying the facilitatory control of uropod steering behaviour during treadmill walking in crayfish. II. Modulation Of uropod motoneurone excitation by leg proprioception. J Exp Biol 1 May 1998; 201 (9): 1295–1305. doi: https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.201.9.1295
Download citation file:
Advertisement
Cited by
In the field: an interview with Harald Wolf
(update)-Conversation.jpg?versionId=3747)
In our new Conversation, Harald Wolf talks about his fieldwork experiences working with desert ants in Tunisia to understand their navigation.
Propose a new Workshop
-GSWorkshop.png?versionId=3747)
Our Workshops bring together leading experts and early-career researchers from a range of scientific backgrounds. Applications are now open to propose Workshops for 2024, one of which will be held in a Global South country.
Julian Dow steps down and John Terblanche joins the JEB team
-NewEditor.png?versionId=3747)
After 15 years with the journal, Julian Dow from University of Glasgow, UK, is stepping down as a Monitoring Editor. We wish Julian all the best for the future and welcome John Terblanche, Stellenbosch University, South Africa, who is joining the team. Julian talks about his long association with The Company of Biologists and the journal and John tells us about his life and career in this News article.
The capture of crude oil droplets by filter feeders at high and low Reynolds numbers
-FilterFeeders.jpg?versionId=3747)
Researchers from the University of Montreal, Canada, reveal how tiny filter feeding barnacles and Daphnia entrap and consume minute droplets of crude oil, introducing the pollutant at the bottom of the food chain.
Patterns and processes in amphibious fish
-Review.png?versionId=3747)
In their Review, Keegan Lutek, Cassandra Donatelli and Emily Standen discuss the biomechanics and neural control of terrestrial locomotion in amphibious fish. They explore how locomotor mode depends on body shape, physical constraints and phylogeny.