Mechanotransduction is the basis of several sensory modalities, including touch, hearing, proprioception and gravity sensation. Despite its importance to sensory processing and behavior, the molecular mechanisms underlying mechanotransduction remain to be fully understood. In particular, the identity of the ion channels serving mechanotransduction is still unknown in many species. Drosophila me...

Rodents use their vibrissae to detect and discriminate tactile features during active exploration. The site of mechanical transduction in the vibrissa sensorimotor system is the follicle sinus complex and its associated vibrissa. We study the mechanics within the ring sinus (RS) of the follicle in an ex vivo preparation of the mouse mystacial pad. The sinus region has a relatively dense represe...

Stimulation of cardiac mechanoreceptors during volume expansion elicits reflex compensatory changes in sympathetic nerve activity (SNA). The hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus (PVN) and nucleus of the tractus solitarius (NTS) are autonomic regions known to contribute to this reflex. Both of these nuclei project to the rostral ventrolateral medulla (RVLM), critical in the tonic generation of S...

Breathing in amphibians is a remarkably complex behavior consisting of irregular breaths that may be taken singly or in bouts that are used to deflate and inflate the lungs. The valves at the two outlets of the buccal cavity (nares and glottis) need to be finely controlled throughout the bout for the expression of these complex respiratory behaviors. In this study, we use a technique based on t...

Cooling intrathoracic airways by filling the pulmonary circulation with cold blood alters pulmonary mechanoreceptor discharge. To determine whether this initiates reflex changes that could contribute to airway obstruction, we measured changes in tracheal smooth muscle tension and bronchial arterial flow evoked by cooling. In nine chloralose-anesthetized open-chest dogs, the right pulmonary arte...

1, Inking behavior is a stereotyped response, which can be utilized as a model system to study the neuronal mechanisms underlying simple neuroglandular behaviors. While much is known about the features of the behavior and its motor neurons (2, 811, 20), little is known regarding the sensory neurons and interneurons that drive the motor cells. The present study was undertaken to examine these ad...

Using immunohistochemistry and western blot analysis, we demonstrate that melanopsin is localised in cells around the central pore of lateral line neuromasts in the African clawed frog, Xenopus laevis. Since melanopsin is a known photoreceptor pigment with diverse functions in vertebrates, we suggest that the lateral line of Xenopus laevis, which is primarily a mechanoreceptor, might also be li...