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Science 12 May 1972:
Vol. 176. no. 4035, pp. 680 - 682
DOI: 10.1126/science.176.4035.680
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Articles

Decremental Conduction over "Giant" Afferent Processes in an Arthropod

Dorothy H. Paul 1

1 Department of Biology, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts

Four "giant" mechanoreceptive cells form part of a stretch receptor organ at the base of the uropod in the sand crab, Emerita (Crustacea, Anomura). Injection of the fluorescent dye Procion Yellow revealed that these sensory cells are monopolar with somata located in the central nervous system. No such cells have previously been described in arthropods. These neurons are also unusual in that they do not generate propagated action potentials; rather, they mediate stretch reflexes by transmission of graded, decremental potentials.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Receptor Potentials and Electrical Properties of Nonspiking Stretch-Receptive Neurons in the Sand Crab Emerita analoga (Anomura, Hippidae).
D. H. Paul and J. Bruner (1999)
J Neurophysiol 81, 2493-2500
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Impulse-coded and analog signaling in single mechanoreceptor neurons.
Y. Pasztor and B. Bush (1982)
Science 215, 1635-1637
   Abstract »    PDF »


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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)