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Respiratory nervous activity in the isolated nerve cord of the larval dragonfly, and location of the respiratory oscillator
Author(s) -
KOMATSU AKIRA
Publication year - 1982
Publication title -
physiological entomology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.693
H-Index - 57
eISSN - 1365-3032
pISSN - 0307-6962
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-3032.1982.tb00288.x
Subject(s) - ganglion , dragonfly , biology , anatomy , rhythm , respiratory system , nodose ganglion , cord , spinal cord , ventral nerve cord , sensory system , nervous system , neuroscience , vagus nerve , medicine , larva , stimulation , surgery , botany
. Rhythmic respiratory nerve activity was recorded in the dragonfly larvae, Anax parthenope Julius Brauer (Anisoptera). Alternating expiratory and inspiratory bursts of spikes occurred in abdominal nerve cords isolated from all peripheral connections. These bursts are similar to the activity recorded in semi‐intact preparations, suggesting that the respiratory rhythm can be generated without peripheral sensory feedback. Expiratory bursts started and ended at the same time in different segments of semi‐intact preparations. When connectives were severed, the nerve cord separated from the last abdominal ganglion did not normally show rhythmic bursts; the last ganglion alone and the nerve cord connected to the last ganglion exhibited the rhythmic bursts. However, in a few cases the nerve cord separated from the last ganglion exhibited the rhythm. The results suggest that the last ganglion contains the main oscillator, but that other weak oscillators occur elsewhere.