[Effect of the locomotor system of the pedal ganglia of the pteropodial mollusk on anatomically isolated neurons].

The isolated pedal ganglia of the pteropodial mollusc Clione limacina generate the locomotor activity. In 30% of the pedal ganglion preparations, the locomotor rhythm was not regular, i. e. the locomotor generator worked in "bursts". These "locomotor bursts" were caused by spontaneous activations of command neurons located in the pedal ganglia. Single neurons were extracted from such preparations with an intracellular microelectrode and then their somas were put into the initial place between the ganglion cells. 25% of the isolated neurons (9 out of 35) renewed the "locomotor bursts"-related changes in the activity after the insertion into the ganglion. Neurons, originally excited during "bursts", continued to be excited after isolation, while inhibited neurons continued to be inhibited. It follows, therefore, that the command neurons can act on the target cells in the absence of morphological synapses.