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Journal of Experimental Biology, Vol 198, Issue 2 537-549, Copyright © 1995 by Company of Biologists

JOURNAL ARTICLES

The transfer of signals from photoreceptor cells to large second-order neurones in the ocellar visual system of the locust Locusta migratoria

P Simmons

The operation of the first synapse in the ocellar pathway of the locust Locusta migratoria has been studied by making simultaneous intracellular recordings from photoreceptors and large, second-order L-neurones. 1. The transfer curve for the synapse, obtained by plotting the amplitudes of the initial peak responses by the two cells to pulses of light against each other, shows that L-neurones are extremely sensitive to changes in photoreceptor potential and that the connection is tonically active in darkness. 2. Postsynaptic current in an L-neurone, produced when pulses of light are delivered from a dark background, saturates at a slightly brighter light intensity than does the postsynaptic potential. 3. The signal-to-noise ratio improves with increases in light intensity in both cells, but the reduction in noise as signals are transmitted from photoreceptors to L-neurones is less than would be expected from the number of photoreceptors that probably converge on each L-neurone. 4. In both cells, in the presence of different intensities of background illumination, the slope of the intensity­response curve is maintained as the curve moves along the light intensity axis. Adaptation is relatively slow so that, at least for several minutes after an increase in background illumination, both cells maintain a sustained response and the responses to stimuli of increased illumination are reduced in amplitude. During sustained background illumination, the transfer curve for the synapse between a photoreceptor and an L-neurone shifts along both axes without a change in its maximum slope. 5. The slope of the synaptic transfer curve depends on the speed as well as the amplitude of changes in light. 6. In response to injection of depolarising pulses of current into a photoreceptor, an L-neurone generates brief, hyperpolarising responses. The amplitude of the responses depends on the strength and speed of the depolarising stimuli. After an initial response by an L-neurone, subsequent responses are reduced in amplitude for 200 ms. 7. The amplitude of L-neurone responses to electrical stimulation of a photoreceptor increases when the hyperpolarising constant current is injected into the photoreceptor.
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