The cord stretch receptors in the abdominal nerve cord of the crayfish Cherax destructor: Physiology and relationships

Abstract

The physiology and relationships of tonic cord stretch receptor neurons in the crayfish Cherax destructor were examined with intracellular and extracellular recording. Cord stretch evoked slow depolarisations leading to action potentials in tonic cord stretch receptor neurons. Intermittent post-synaptic potentials were also seen in cord stretch receptor neurons but were not the primary cause of the action potentials. Cord stretch still evoked action potentials in cord stretch receptor neurons when all synaptic activity, monitored at another known chemical synapse, was blocked using high [Mg2+] and low [Ca2+] in the bath. One source of facilitating excitatory post-synaptic potentials in the c..