Abstract
A group of wind sensitive filiform hair receptors on the locust thorax and head makes contact onto a pair of identified interneuron, A4I1. The hair receptors' central nervous projections exhibit pronounced structural dynamics during nymphal development, for example, by gradually eliminating their ipsilateral dendritic field while maintaining the contralateral one. These changes are dependent not only on hormones controlling development but on neuronal activity as well. The hair-to-interneuron system has remarkably high gain (close to 1) and makes contact to flight steering muscles. During stationary flight in front of a wind tunnel, interneuron A4I1 is active in the wing beat rhythm, and in addition it responds strongly to stimulation of sensory hairs in its receptive field. A role of the hair-to-interneuron in flight steering is thus suggested. This system appears suitable for further study of developmental and activity-dependent plasticity in a sensorimotor context with known connectivity patterns.
Highlights
To serve the requirements of behavior in different life stages and different biological habitats, the nervous system must exhibit a considerable degree of flexibility, in holometabolous insects
We further present a first experiment addressing possible functions of this sensory hair-to-interneuron system in locust flight control
The synaptic connections between these hairs and first-order interneurons are remodeled during postembryonic development (Chiba et al, 1988), in a more gradual fashion than during metamorphosis in holometabolous insects
Summary
To serve the requirements of behavior in different life stages and different biological habitats, the nervous system must exhibit a considerable degree of flexibility, in holometabolous insects. These sensory hair-to-interneuron connections changes during nymphal development, and these changes depend on neuronal activity with regard to both morphology and synaptic contact. In adult locusts (Figure 2B; see Pflüger and Burrows, 1990), the projection patterns of probasisternal hairs exhibit exclusively contralateral projections (Figure 2, red) whereas both the proepisternal and pronotal receptors have only ipsilateral projections (Figure 2, blue).
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