Abstract
We examined whether the enteric nervous system (ENS) is capable of controlling autonomous peristalsis, which occurs in the crop of Aplysia as well as in the esophagus of Lymnaea. Interestingly, “pacemaker neurons”, which lead peristaltic rhythm, were found in the gizzard in Aplysia and in the crop in Lymnaea; both of these structures are located distal to the regions exhibiting peristalsis. Thus, the bursting activity of the ENS first occurred in lower regions and then progressed in an ascending direction (i.e. in the opposite direction of peristalsis). The two species are thought to differ in terms of the mechanisms involved in producing peristalsis.
Article PDF
Explore related subjects
Discover the latest articles, news and stories from top researchers in related subjects.Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Bortoff, A. (1961) Slow potential variations of small intestine. Am. J. Physiol. 201, 203–208.
Cropper, E. C., Evans, C. G., Hurwits, I., Jing, J., Proekt, A., Romero, A., Rosen, S. C. (2004) Feeding neural networks in the mollusc Aplysia. Neurosignals 13, 70–86.
Howells, H. H. (1942) The structure and function of the alimentary cannal of Aplysia punctata. Q. J. Microsc. Sci. 83, 357–397.
Ito, S., Kurokawa, M. (2007) Coordinated peripheral neuronal activities among the different regions of the digestive tract in Aplysia. Zool. Sci. 24, 714–722.
Kurokawa, M., Ito, S., Okamoto, T. (2008) Activities and functions of peripheral neurons in the enteric nervous system of Aplysia and Lymnaea. Acta Biol. Hung. 59, 65–71.
Okamoto, T., Kurokawa, M. (2010) The role of the peripheral enteric nervous system in the control of the gut motility in the snail Lymnaea stagnalis. Zool. Sci. 27, 602–610.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Presented during the 12th ISIN Symposium on Invertebrate Neurobiology, August 31–September 4, 2011, Tihany, Hungary.
Rights and permissions
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.
About this article
Cite this article
Kurokawa, M., Kasuya, Y. & Okamoto, T. Origin of Automaticity and Neural Regulation of Peristalsis in the Gastrointestinal Tract of Aplysia and Lymnaea?. BIOLOGIA FUTURA 63 (Suppl 2), 202–205 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1556/ABiol.63.2012.Suppl.2.26
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1556/ABiol.63.2012.Suppl.2.26