Action potentials in the nervous system of the crayfish. III. Central responses to proprioceptive and tactile stimulation

✍ Scribed by C. Ladd Prosser

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1935
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 716 KB
• Volume: 62
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0021-9967
• DOI: 10.1002/cne.900620212

✦ Synopsis

Sensory hairs border the cephalothorax and abdomen of the crayfish and are abundant on the appendages. The appendages are provided in addition with many proprioceptors, especially at the joints (Retzius, 1895 and others). Barnes ( '30 and '32) recorded action potentials in sensory nerves of the leg of several crabs in response to stimulation of these sensory endings. Responses to similar stimulation in the crayfish were observed above the background of spontaneous impulses in the central nervous system (Prosser, '34a). It is important to know where these sensory impulses go after entering the central nervous system.

Action potentials were recorded with a cathode ray oscillograph, as described previously (Prosser, loc. cit., also Garceau and Davis, '34). Flexion of an appendage was used to elicit proprioceptive responses. Extension caused similar, although slightly smaller responses. The sensory hairs were sensitive to movement and not to mere contact. At first, a glass needle was used for stimulation. Later, to provide a signal, a silver needle was employed with a 0.001 mfd. condenser arranged to discharge through it when it touched a moist appendage. The l Parker Fellow in Physiology, Harvard University.