Effects of temperature on statocyst afferents of the crab Carcinus maenas

Abstract

1. 1.|Statocyst afferents show decreased spontaneous firing frequencies, spike heights and conduction velocities to decreased temperature, with all activity failing at approx. 5°C. 2. 2.|On raising temperature, these parameters increase to between 20 and 30°C when an abrupt decrease in spike frequency is shown. There is a marked hysteresis in the response. High temperature effects are usually irreversible. 3. 3.|Temperature affects gain fairly evenly over the frequency range 1–100 Hz but there is a clear shift in peak frequency towards lower frequencies on decreasing temperature and towards higher frequencies on increasing temperature. Phase tends to change markedly at higher temperatures. 4. 4.|The response to a rapid step change in temperature is complicated with gain and phase having different time courses. 5. 5.|Arrhenius plots are curvilinear suggesting several processes may be involved.