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Morphology of locust neck muscle motoneurons and some of their inputs

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Summary

  1. 1.

    Locust neck muscle motoneurons in the prothoracic ganglion (innervating muscles 54–56) and certain of their physiologically examined inputs were visualised in the prothoracic ganglion using the cobalt sulphide staining and silver intensification techniques. The following inputs and their relationships to the motoneurons were examined; a) primary afferent projections from neck sensory structures, b) plurisegmental interneurons selected only on the basis of their precise sensory responses (sensory interneurons) and not on the basis of their motor outputs, c) plurisegmental interneurons which elicit long lasting activity in the motoneurons (‘activating’ interneurons).

  2. 2.

    The structure of the plurisegmental interneurons correlated with their gross function, i.e., mediating sensory information or activation of motor systems. The plurisegmental sensory interneurons usually had short medial branches and one to three large dorsolateral branches mainly projecting into dorsal motor neuropile, regardless of the sensory modality. In contrast, the ‘activating’ interneurons had extremely dense and widespread projections often throughout an entire dorsal or ventral ganglion half.

  3. 3.

    The overlaps of the sensory afferents, interneurons and ‘activating’ interneurons with the motoneuron trees showed no clear localisation according to input type or function.

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Abbreviations

DC I–VI :

dorsal commissures I to IV

DIT :

dorsal intermediate tract

DMT :

dorsal median tract

LDT :

lateral dorsal tract

iLVT :

inner lateral ventral tract

oLVT :

outer lateral ventral tract

MDT :

median dorsal tract

MVT :

median ventral tract

PVC :

posterior ventral commissure

SMC :

supra-median commissure

VAC :

ventral association centre

dVCL II :

dorsal ventral commissural loop II

vVCL II :

ventral ventral commissural loop II

VIT :

ventral intermediate tract

VMT :

ventral median tract

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Max-Planck-Institut für Verhaltensphysiologie, D-8131, Seewiesen, Federal Republic of Germany

    J. Kien

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  1. J. Kien
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I am extremely grateful to F. Herrmann for her invaluable assistance. Dr. N.M. Tyrer provided ganglionic maps. Drs. J.S. Altman and N.M. Tyrer generally gave much help and criticism. This work was supported by a Max-Planck-Stipendium and DFG grant No. HU 35/17.

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Kien, J. Morphology of locust neck muscle motoneurons and some of their inputs. J. Comp. Physiol. 140, 321–336 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00606272

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