Ritzmann R E, Pollack A J, Hudson S E, Hyvonen A
Department of Biology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106.
Brain Res. 1991 Nov 1;563(1-2):175-83. doi: 10.1016/0006-8993(91)91531-5.
Research on the escape system of the cockroach has focused upon the role of giant interneurons in conveying information on wind stimulation from the cerci located on the abdomen to motor control centers in the thoracic ganglia. In the thoracic ganglia the ventral giant interneurons connect to a population of interganglionic interneurons referred to as type A thoracic interneurons. In this paper we have tested the type A interneurons for additional sensory inputs in the absence of ventral giant interneuron activity. We find that the cells that receive ventral giant interneuron activity are also influenced by a variety of additional sensory inputs; wind mediated activity in a pathway that descends from the head, tactile inputs from several loci, auditory stimuli and light responses. Moreover, behavioral observations indicate that at least some of these activities can alter the escape movements. The results suggest that these interneurons serve as a site of convergence for numerous types of sensory activity. They further suggest that the escape system is capable of responding to directional wind information encoded in the ventral giant interneurons in the context of a wealth of additional information.
对蟑螂逃逸系统的研究集中在巨型中间神经元在将腹部尾须感受到的风刺激信息传递到胸神经节的运动控制中心方面所起的作用。在胸神经节中，腹侧巨型中间神经元与一群被称为A类胸中间神经元的神经节间中间神经元相连。在本文中，我们测试了A类中间神经元在腹侧巨型中间神经元无活动时的额外感觉输入情况。我们发现，接受腹侧巨型中间神经元活动的细胞也受到多种额外感觉输入的影响；来自头部下行通路的风介导活动、来自几个部位的触觉输入、听觉刺激和光反应。此外，行为观察表明，这些活动中至少有一些可以改变逃逸动作。结果表明，这些中间神经元是多种感觉活动汇聚的场所。它们还表明，逃逸系统能够在大量额外信息的背景下，对腹侧巨型中间神经元编码的定向风信息做出反应。
