Abstract
The sensitivity of flies and locusts to halothane and N2O was investigated. In this paper we report experiments concerning the allover motor activity in the animal as a whole. In order to determine how the size of neurons comes into play under anesthesia we experimented with different but closely related species of flies differing very clearly in size. For the same reason we chose locusts of different developmental states and consequently different size. It came out that the larger insects are more sensitive to anesthetics than the smaller ones.
The results confirm one of Sherrington's (1906) conclusions, which says the axon which conducts spikes cannot be the most sensitive part of the neuron to anesthetic action. He ascribed the highest sensitivity to synapses; this, however, does not match with our results. In agreement with our experimental data is the new hypothesis that long dendrites or axonal endings conducting graded potentials are those parts of the CNS that exhibit the highest sensitivity to anesthetic action. Further confirmation of this hypothesis by more direct approaches has to be provided.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Literatur
Burrows M (1983) Local interneurones and the control of movement in insects. In: Huber F, Markl H (eds) Neuroethology and behavioral physiology. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York, pp 26–41
Coggshall JC, Boschek CB, Buchner SM (1973) Preliminary investigations on a pair of giant fibers in the central nervous system of dipteran flies. Z Naturforsch 28c:783–784
Conel (1939–1963) The postnatal development of the human cerebral cortex (7 vols). Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA
Documenta Geigy. Wissenschaftliche Tabellen. J.R. Geigy A.G. Basel (1955)
Eckert H (1981) The horizontal cells in the lobula plate of the blowfly,Phaenicia sericata. J Comp Physiol 143:511–526
Egelhaaf M (1985) On the neuronal basis of figure-ground discrimination by relative motion in the visual system of the fly. I. Behavioural constraints imposed on the neuronal network and the role of the optomotor system. Biol Cybern 52:123–140
Fischbach KF, heisenberg M (1984) Neurogenetics and behaviour in insects. J Exp Biol 112:65–93
Gregory GA, Eger E, I, II, Munson ES (1969) The relationship between age and halothane requirement in man. Anesthesiology 30:488–491
Halsey MJ (1980) Physicochemical properties of inhalational anaesthetics. In: Gray TC, Utting JE, Nunn JF (eds) General anaesthesia, 4th edn, vol 1. Butterworths, London Boston Sydney Wellington Durban Toronto, pp 45–65
Hausen K (1982) Motion sensitive interneurons in the optomotor system of the fly. I. The horizontal cells: structure and signals. Biol Cybern 45:143–156
Hausen K (1984) The lobula-complex of the fly: Structure, function and significance in visual behaviour. In: Ali MA (ed) Photoreception and vision in invertebrates. Series A: Life sciences, vol 74. Nato ASI Series. Plenum Press, New York London, pp 523–559
Hauser H (1975) Vergleichend quantitative Untersuchungen an den Schganglien der FliegenMusca Domestica undDrosophila melanogaster. Dissertation Universität Tübingen
Haydon DA, Hendry BM (1982) Nerve impulse blockage in squid axons byn-alkanes: The effect of axon diameter. J Physiol (London) 333:393–403
Hengstenberg R (1982) Common visual response properties of giant vertical cells in the lobula plate of the blowflyCalliphora. J Comp Physiol 149:179–193
Jack JJB, Noble D, Tsien RW (1975) Electric current flow in excitable cells. Clarendon Press, Oxford
Kandel ER, Siegelbaum S (1985) Principles underlying electrical and chemical synaptic transmission. In: Kandel ER, Schwartz JH (eds) Principles of neural science. Elsevier, New York Amsterdam Oxford, pp 89–107
Kirschfeld K (1972) The visual system ofMusca: Studies on optics, structure and function. In: Wehner R (ed) Information processing in the visual system of arthropods. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York, pp 61–74
Kirschfeld K, Baier-Rogowski V (1987) The neuronal basis of the anesthetic state: a comparative physiological approach. II The influence of anesthetics on different reactions in flies. Biol Cybern (in preparation)
Larrabee MG, Posternak JM (1952) Selective action of anesthetics on synapses and axons in mammalian sympathetic ganglia. J Neurophysiol 15:91–114
Munson ES (1970) Effect of hypothermia on anesthetic requirement in rats. Lab Anim Sci 20:1109–1113
Regan MJ, Eger EI (1967) II. The effect of hypothermia in dogs on anesthetizing and apnoic doses of inhalation agents. Anesthesiology 28:689–699
Reichardt W, Poggio T, Hausen K (1983) Figure-ground discrimination by relative movement in the visual system of the fly. Part II. Towards the neural circuitry. Biol Cybern 46(Suppl):1–30
Richards CD (1973) On the mechanism of halothane anaesthesia. J Physiol 233:439–456
Riehle A, Franceschini N (1984) Motion detection in flies: Parametric control over ON-OFF pathways. Exp Brain Res 54:390–394
Sherrington ChS (1906) The integrative action of the nervous system. Yale University Press, New Haven
Staiman A, Seemann P (1977) Conduction-blocking concentrations of anaesthetic increase with nerve axon diameter: Studies with alcohol, lidocaine and tetrodotoxin on single myelinated fibres. J Pharmacol Exp Ther 201:340–349
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kirschfeld, K., Baier-Rogowski, V. Die neuronale Grundlage des Zustandes der Narkose: ein vergleichend-physiologischer Ansatz. Biol. Cybernetics 55, 345–354 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02281980
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02281980