title: Response properties of the electrosensory neurons in hindbrain of the white sturgeon, Acipenser transmontanus.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The passive electrosense is a primitive sensory modality in the Chondrostei, which include sturgeon and paddlefish. Using electroreceptors, these fish detect the weak electric fields from other animals or geoelectric sources, and use this information for prey detection or other behaviors. The primary afferent fibers innervating the electroreceptors project to a single hindbrain target called the dorsal octavolateral nucleus (DON), where the electrosensory information is first processed. Here, we investigated the electrophysiological properties of DON neurons.
  
  
  METHODS
  Extracellular recording was used to investigate the response properties of DON neurons to dipole electric fields with different amplitudes and frequencies in the white sturgeon, Acipenser transmontanus.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The DON neurons showed regular spontaneous activity and could be classified into two types: neurons with a low spontaneous rate (<10 Hz) and those with a high spontaneous rate (>10 Hz). In response to sinusoidal electric field stimuli, DON neurons showed sinusoidally-modulated and phase-locked firing. In addition, neurons showed opposite phase responses corresponding to the different directions of the dipole.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The response properties of DON neurons match the electrosensory biological function in sturgeon, as they match the characteristics of the electric fields of its prey.
authors: Shanghai Ocean University, Institute for Marine Biosystems and Neuroscience, Shanghai 201306, China.
authors: Xuguang
authors: X
authors: Zhang
authors: Hendrik
authors: H
authors: Herzog
authors: Jiakun
authors: J
authors: Song
authors: Xiaojie
authors: X
authors: Wang
authors: Chunxin
authors: C
authors: Fan
authors: Hongyi
authors: H
authors: Guo
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D055724:Electrophysiological Phenomena; D005399:Fishes / Q000502:physiology*; D012249:Rhombencephalon / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D011984:Sensory Receptor Cells / Q000502:physiology*