Processing of gustatory information by spiking local interneurons in the locust

Despite the importance of gustation, little is known of the central pathways responsible for the processing and coding of different chemical stimuli. Here I have analyzed the responses of a population of spiking local interneurons, with somata at the ventral midline of the metathoracic ganglion, during stimulation of chemo- and mechanoreceptors on the legs of locusts. Volatile acidic stimuli were used to selectively activate the chemosensory neurons. Different members of the population of local interneurons received depolarizing or hyperpolarizing inputs during chemosensory stimulation. Many of the same interneurons that received chemosensory input also received mechanosensory inputs from tactile hairs on the leg, but others received exclusively mechanosensory inputs. Chemosensory inputs occurred with a short and constant latency, typical of monosynaptic connections. The chemosensory receptive fields of the spiking local interneurons mapped the surface of a hind leg so that spatial information relating to the location of a taste receptor was preserved. The amplitude of potentials in interneurons during chemosensory stimulation varied in a graded manner along the long axis of the leg, thus creating gradients in the chemosensory receptive fields of interneurons. Some interneurons were depolarized to a greater extent by chemical stimuli applied to basiconic sensilla on distal parts of the leg, whereas others were depolarized more by chemical stimulation of more proximal sensilla.