title: An apparatus for recording defensive responses to tactile stimulation in the ground snail.
abstract: We describe here an original working experimental apparatus for non-invasive objective recording of the magnitudes of defensive responses to tactile stimulation in the ground snail. The apparatus includes a tracking device that ensures that the snail's position relative to a light and photodiode remains constant as it ascends a cylinder rotating about a horizontal axis. The device providing tactile stimulation is based on a loudspeaker circuit and provides blows of dosed energy. The snail responds to the tactile stimulation by retracting the antennae, head, and foot, which decreases the area of its shadow; this is recorded by a photodiode.
authors.affiliation: Department of Higher Nervous Activity, M V Lomonosov Moscow State University.
authors.forename: A A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Moskvitin
authors.forename: A S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Pivovarov
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001330:Electronic Data Processing / Q000295:instrumentation*; D004867:Equipment Design; D004924:Escape Reaction; D006185:Habituation, Psychophysiologic; D009043:Motor Activity; D011589:Psychology, Experimental / Q000295:instrumentation*; D012908:Snails; D014110:Touch