title: Odor responses and spontaneous oscillatory activity in tentacular nerves of the terrestrial slug, Limax marginatus.
abstract: We studied the neural oscillatory activity in the peripheral olfactory system of the tentacles in the terrestrial slug, Limax marginatus, by extracellular recording. Recordings from the cut-ends of the inferior tentacular nerves connected to the inferior tentacular ganglia and sensory epithelia showed spontaneous oscillatory activity at frequencies of 0.1-30 Hz. This spontaneous activity was dominated by the 0.6-6 Hz band. Ethanol odor stimulation decreased the amplitude in the 0.6-6 Hz band and increased those in the 6-15 and 15-30 Hz bands. Antagonists of the gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) receptor, bicuculline and picrotoxin, resulted in suppression of spontaneous activity and modulated the odor response in the 0.6-6 Hz band. Our results indicate the involvement of GABA-mediated oscillatory activity in the tentacular nerves in the olfactory processing in molluscs.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Animal Behavior and Intelligence, Division of Biological Sciences, Graduate School of Science, Hokkaido University, North 10, West 8, Kita-ku, Sapporo 060-0810, Japan.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ito
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kimura
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ito
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001640:Bicuculline / Q000494:pharmacology; D004594:Electrophysiology; D000431:Ethanol / Q000494:pharmacology; D018756:GABA Antagonists / Q000494:pharmacology; D008974:Mollusca / Q000502:physiology*; D009424:Nervous System Physiological Phenomena / Q000187:drug effects; D009812:Odorants; D009991:Oscillometry; D010852:Picrotoxin / Q000494:pharmacology; D012903:Smell / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D001640:Bicuculline; D000431:Ethanol; D018756:GABA Antagonists; D010852:Picrotoxin