Neurophysiological and neuroanatomical analyses of brain mechanisms subserving spontaneous initiation of behavior in invertebrates

固定在球型跑步机上的克氏原龙虾大脑的细胞外记录首次在无脊椎动物中显示，在动物自发启动运动行为之前，一组特定的下行中间神经元显示出明显的尖峰活动，即准备活动。利用细胞内记录和染色技术，我们可以通过表征大脑中这些就绪放电神经元的生理和形态特征来识别这些神经元。此外，我们还表明，准备活动是由顺序突触的兴奋和抑制决定的。

Extracellular recordings from the brain of crayfish, Procambarus clarkii, fixed on a sphere-type treadmill have revealed for the first time in invertebrates that a specific set of descending interneurons show a noticeable increase in their spike activity, i.e., the readiness activity, before the animal spontaneously initiates locomotor behavior. Using intracellular recording and staining techniques, we could identify those readiness discharge neurons by characterizing their physiological and morphological features in the brain. Furthermore, we showed that the readiness activity is shaped by sequential synaptic excitation and inhibition.