[Organization of the sensory input of command neurons]

Dynamics of habituation of synaptic responses to tactile stimulation of the snail skin was used as a criterion for defining organization of the receptive field of an escape behaviour command neurone. It was shown that every command neurone had its own specific nonhabituating area of the receptive field while the size of the field was common to all command neurones - it comprised the whole skin surface. The receptive field of a command neurone system is not homogeneous in structure. Areas corresponding to ecologically significant regions can be singled out by the maximal response amplitude and low rate of habituation.