Electrophysiological Organization of the Eye of Aplysia

The eye of Aplysia californica was studied by electrophysiological and histological methods. It has a central spheroidal lens which is surrounded by a retina composed of several thousand receptor cells which are replete with clear vesicles, pigmented support cells, neurons which contain secretory granules, and glial cells. The thin optic nerve that connects the eye to the cerebral ganglion gives a simple "on" response of synchronized action potentials. Tonic activity occurs in the optic nerve in the dark and is dependent on previous dark adaptation. Micropipette recordings indicate that the ERG is positive (relative to a bathelectrode) on the outer surface of the eye and negative in the region of the distal segments of the receptors. Intracellular recordings show that receptor cells have resting potentials of 40–50 mv and respond to illumination with graded potentials of up to 55 mv. Dark-adapted receptors exhibit discrete bumps on the graded response to brief light flashes. Other elements in the retina that do not give large graded responses fall into two classes. One class responds to illumination with action potentials that are in synchrony with the extracellularly recorded compound optic nerve potentials. The other class is tonically active and is depolarized or hyperpolarized and inhibited upon illumination. It is apparent that complex excitatory and lateral inhibitory interactions occur among the elements of the retina

Synaptic Connections between a Transplanted Insect Ganglion and Muscles of the Host

When a metathoracic ganglion from one cockroach (Periplaneta americana) is transplanted into the coxa of another cockroach, it innervates only those leg muscles that have been previously denervated. The transplanted ganglion evokes hyperpolarizing synaptic potentials in the host muscles that it innervates. These potentials are correlated with twitching of the host limb

Nerve Regeneration: Correlation of Electrical, Histological, and Behavioral Events

Wihtin 5 days after the leg nerves of a cockroach are injured, miniature end-plate potentials have disappeared. and the muscle is unresponsive to electrical stimulation. The soma of the injured neutron has a dense perinuclear ring of RNA. By 40 days after the injury, locomotor activity has returned, and the miniature end-plate potentials and evoked electrical responses have reappeared in the muscle. The RNA ring has disappeared, and the nucleus of the regenerating neuron has shifted to an eccentric position