QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

HOME  |   SEARCH  |   ARCHIVE  |   SUBSCRIBE  |   CONTACT  |   HELP

This Article Full Text (PDF) Submit an eLetter Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Wood, D. C. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Wood, D. C.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Journal of Neuroscience, Vol 8, 2248-2253, Copyright © 1988 by Society for Neuroscience

ARTICLE

Habituation in Stentor: a response-dependent process

DC Wood
Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260.

The contractile protozoan Stentor coeruleus habituates during repetition of the mechanical stimulus used to elicit the initial contractions. This decrement in response probability was found to be highly correlated with a reduction in receptor potential amplitude, while the amplitude of the action potentials that triggered the contractions did not change. When mechanical stimulation elicited receptor potentials and not action potentials, the receptor potential did not habituate significantly. Conversely, action potentials repetitively elicited by current pulses habituated animals to mechanical stimuli. Similarly, voltage steps used to simulate action potentials produced pronounced decrements in receptor currents recorded from voltage-clamped cells, while mechanical stimulation produced only small decrements. Thus, habituation depends primarily on action potential production, while mechanical stimulation itself makes a much smaller, but significant, contribution. The temporal relation between mechanical stimuli and action potentials, when both occur, is inconsequential in determining the rate and degree of habituation produced.

Home  |   Search  |   Archive  |   Subscribe  |   Contact  |   Help