Flight Mechanisms of the Locust

Abstract

The onus on those who choose to trace neural pathways in the central nervous system is to produce some general principles of neuronal organization. Detractors claim that this procedure produces only numerous and largely incomprehensible details relevant only to the particular piece of behavior of the particular animal under study. Just what is the task being undertaken, and will the tracing of neural pathways provide any answers? The task is to understand how a behavioral pattern is organized at the level of individual neurons. So complex are even those behavioral patterns normally considered to be “simple” that the immediate task becomes one of listing the components of the CNS and describing some of their interactions. We simply do not know what new types of neurons to expect or by what means they, or even the neurons we know already, are likely to communicate with each other.