Transducing Mechanisms in the Lateral Line Canal Organ Receptors
This extract was created in the absence of an abstract.
Excerpt
INTRODUCTION
The lateral line organ belongs to the acoustico-lateralis system, which comprises also the labyrinthine sensory organs of the inner ear. These organs have the same embryological origin and also display a similar basic structure. The mechanical coupling of the sensory units to auxiliary structures of different types, such as the membrane tectoria, the cupula, or the otolith, in each case determines the specificity of an organ to a particular type of stimulus (Pumphrey, 1950; Lowenstein, 1956). The biological significance of the various organs may therefore differ, while the adequate stimulus for the sensory cells and their mode of action is still the same. When such considerations are taken into account, certain differences still seem to exist between the electrophysiological properties of the various organs belonging to the acoustico-lateralis system. Such a difference concerns the fact that the frequency of the microphonic potential in the lateral line canal organ is...
