Activity changes in jaw motor neurons induced by egg-laying hormone contribute to the feeding suppression during egg-laying behavior in Aplysia kurodai

Abstract

Egg-laying behavior in Aplysia is accompanied by behavioral changes such as feeding suppression. We investigated the effects of the egg-laying hormone (ELH) on food intake, the activity patterns of jaw muscles, and the activity of buccal neurons (multi-action neuron [MA1] and jaw-closing motor neuron [JC2]), which are elements of the feeding neural circuits controlling jaw movements in Aplysia kurodai. Injection of ELH into the body cavity inhibited the intake of seaweed. After ELH application, the rhythmic activity of jaw muscles that was induced by preferred taste stimulation elicited fewer ingestion-like responses and increased the number of rejection-like responses. ELH applied to the buccal ganglia increased the firing activity of JC2 during spontaneous rhythmic responses and during the rhythmic feeding-like responses that were evoked by electrical stimulation of the esophageal nerves. In the 2 types of rhythmic responses, the Dn (normalized value of the delay time of JC2 firing onset) decreased after ELH application as compared with the control. Furthermore, ELH decreased the size of MA1-induced inhibitory postsynaptic currents in JC2. These results suggest that ELH changes the buccal motor program from ingestion to rejection on the basis of our previous results, and may contribute to a decrease in food intake during egg laying.