ISSN:
1432-1351
Source:
Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
Topics:
Biology
,
Medicine
Notes:
Summary 1. The wind-elicited escape turning behavior of cockroaches (Periplaneta americana) receiving various unilateral lesions of the abdominal nervous system was observed using high-speed videography. Lesions were intended to cause an imbalance of wind sensory information in the cercalto-GI pathway (Fig. 1). 2. In adult cockroaches unilateral cereal ablation produced a partial shift in the direction of escape turning: a tendency to turn inappropriately toward, rather than away from, wind stimuli on the side of the ablation. However, hemisection of the abdominal nerve cord in adults produced a complete shift in the direction of turning: virtually every turn was directed toward winds on the side of the lesion. In both cases winds from the intact side still elicited turns that were appropriately directed away from the stimulus (Figs. 5, 6 and 8). Hemisection of the abdominal cord in nymphs also shifted the direction of escape turning, but not to the extent seen in adults (Figs. 7 and 8). 3. The orientation of an escape turn is determined not only by its direction but also by its angular amplitude. Rear winds normally elicit small angle turns, frontal winds also elicit larger angle turns (Fig. 9). Unilateral lesions can disrupt the direction of turning without necessarily disrupting the normal patterning of turn amplitude (Fig. 10). 4. These results are interpreted in terms of the idea that a bilateral comparison of wind evoked GI activity determines the direction of an escape turn. This type of neural integration does not appear to be essential, however, for the determination of the amplitude of an escape turn.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF00611930
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