Activity of crayfish abdominal-positioning interneurones during spontaneous and sensory-evoked movements

The premotor interneurones that produce coordinated abdominal movements in crayfish (Procambarus) when stimulated directly, are also 'sensorimotor'. Sets of these interneurones respond in predictable ways to touching the body surface. One set of interneurones (type I) is activated to spiking by touch, while another (type II) receives only subthreshold influences. Several of these interneurones have overlapping receptive fields on the body surface. Touching areas of overlap activates groups of interneurones which discharge at low to moderate frequencies, rather than producing a high-frequency discharge of a single cell. No single positioning interneurone has been identified which is solely responsible for a "voluntary' (spontaneous) motor programme. When active, the positioning interneurones contribute to the production of the behaviour as a member of a constellation of such cells. The results show that this motor system comprises interneurones with sensory as well as motor properties. Although single cells can produce coordinated movements when stimulated at high frequencies, these positioning interneurones appear to function as 'command elements' within a large 'command system' and not as individual units.