QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s):
Home     Help     Feedback     Subscriptions     Archive     Search     Table of Contents

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by BÜSCHGES, A. Articles by PEARSON, K. G. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by BÜSCHGES, A. Articles by PEARSON, K. G.

Journal of Experimental Biology 157,313-333 (1991)
Published by Company of Biologists 1991

ADAPTIVE MODIFICATIONS IN THE FLIGHT SYSTEM OF THE LOCUST AFTER THE REMOVAL OF WING PROPRIOCEPTORS

ANSGAR BÜSCHGES ¹ and KEIR G. PEARSON ¹

¹ Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Alberta Edmonton T6G 2H7, Alberta, Canada

Previous investigations on the flight system of the locust have found that removal of the wing tegulae in mature locusts (Locusta migratoria) results in an immediate change in the flight motor pattern: the wingbeat frequency (WBF) decreases, the interval between the activity of the depressor and the elevator muscles (the D–E interval) increases, and the phase of the elevator activity in the depressor cycle increases. Here we report the results of a detailed quantitative analysis of these changes. We also examined the flight motor pattern for up to 14 days after removal of the tegulae and found that the changes caused by this operation were not permanent. Beginning on the first day after the operation there was a time-dependent recovery of the WBF, the D–E interval and the phase towards their normal values. In about 80% of the experimental animals the flight motor pattern recovered almost completely. Intracellular recordings from elevator motoneurones showed that this recovery was associated with changes in the pattern of excitatory input to these motoneurones. The modification of activity in elevator motoneurones was dependent on afferent input since complete deafferentation of recovered animals resulted in a motor pattern similar to that following deafferentation of normal animals.

Key words: plasticity, recovery of motor pattern, locust, Locusta migratoria, flight

Accepted on January 25, 1991

This article has been cited by other articles:

				J. Ausborn, W. Stein, and H. Wolf Frequency Control of Motor Patterning by Negative Sensory Feedback J. Neurosci., August 29, 2007; 27(35): 9319 - 9328. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				H. Fischer, H. Wolf, and A. Buschges The locust tegula: kinematic parameters and activity pattern during the wing stroke J. Exp. Biol., June 1, 2002; 205(11): 1531 - 1545. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				H Fischer and W Kutsch Timing of elevator muscle activity during climbing in free locust flight J. Exp. Biol., January 12, 1999; 202(24): 3575 - 3586. [Abstract] [PDF]

				H Fischer and E Ebert Tegula function during free locust flight in relation to motor pattern, flight speed and aerodynamic output J. Exp. Biol., January 3, 1999; 202(6): 711 - 721. [Abstract] [PDF]

				H. Wolf and A. Buschges Plasticity of Synaptic Connections in Sensory-Motor Pathways of the Adult Locust Flight System J Neurophysiol, September 1, 1997; 78(3): 1276 - 1284. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]