Biologists Investigate The Role Of The Largest Animal Brain Cells
Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:
The brains of most fish and amphibian species contain two types of conspicuously large nerve cells. These are the largest cells found in any animal brain. They are called Mauthner cells and trigger lightning-fast escape responses when predators approach. Biologists at the University of Bayreuth have now shown that these cells have unique functions essential for survival, the loss of which cannot be compensated for by other nerve cells. In addition, they have discovered that Mauthner cells remain functional for a long time without their cell bodies (soma). The researchers have published their findings in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The new findings contradict the widespread view that vital functions of nervous systems are not dependent on individual cells specifically equipped for the purpose. "For some years now, there has been a tendency in biology to assume that there are only weakly developed hierarchies in animal nervous systems. Therefore, one could basically assume that any vital functions are at least partially taken over by other areas of the nervous system in case of failure of the nerve cells that are primarily responsible for a given function. However, Mauthner cells in fish and amphibians are examples of a strong hierarchical dependence. In our experiments, we were able to show that a loss of these cells leads to a lifelong failure of the escape reflexes they control that can never be compensated for," explains the Bayreuth animal physiologist Prof. Dr. Stefan Schuster, who directed the investigations.
More information: Alexander Hecker et al, Removing a single neuron in a vertebrate brain forever abolishes an essential behavior, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2020). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1918578117
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