Department of Psychology, Neuroscience Unit, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, 7491 Trondheim, Norway.
J Comp Neurol. 2013 Jan 1;521(1):152-68. doi: 10.1002/cne.23166.
We have characterized, by intracellular recording and staining, a unique type of centrifugal neuron in the brain olfactory center of two heliothine moth species; one in Heliothis virescens and one in Helicoverpa armigera. This unilateral neuron, which is not previously described in any moth, has fine processes in the dorsomedial region of the protocerebrum and extensive neuronal branches with blebby terminals in all glomeruli of the antennal lobe. Its soma is located dorsally of the central body close to the brain midline. Mass-fills of antennal-lobe connections with protocerebral regions showed that the centrifugal neuron is, in each brain hemisphere, one within a small group of neurons having their somata clustered. In both species the neuron was excited during application of non-odorant airborne signals, including transient sound pulses of broad bandwidth and air velocity changes. Additional responses to odors were recorded from the neuron in Heliothis virescens. The putative biological significance of the centrifugal antennal-lobe neuron is discussed with regard to its morphological and physiological properties. In particular, a possible role in multisensory processes underlying the moth's ability to adapt its odor-guided behaviors according to the sound of an echo-locating bat is considered.
我们通过细胞内记录和染色的方法，对两种夜蛾科飞蛾的脑嗅觉中心的一种独特的离心神经元进行了特征描述；一种是在 Heliothis virescens 中，另一种是在 Helicoverpa armigera 中。这种单侧神经元在任何飞蛾中都没有被先前描述过，它在原脑中的背内侧区域有精细的突起，在触角叶的所有神经节中有广泛的带泡状末端的神经元分支。它的体位于靠近脑中线的中央体的背部。触角叶与原脑区域的连接的大规模填充表明，在每个大脑半球中，该离心神经元是位于其体聚集的一小群神经元之一。在这两个物种中，该神经元在应用非气味空气信号时被兴奋，包括宽带宽的瞬态声音脉冲和空气速度变化。还从 Heliothis virescens 的神经元中记录到了对气味的额外反应。考虑到其形态和生理特性，讨论了离心触角叶神经元的潜在生物学意义。特别是，考虑了它在飞蛾根据回声定位蝙蝠的声音来适应其气味引导行为的多感官过程中的可能作用。
