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Quantitation Of Contacts Among Sensory, Motor, And Serotonergic Neurons In The Pedal Ganglion Of Aplysia, Han Zhang, Marcy Wainwright, John H. Byrne, Leonard J. Cleary

Journal Articles

Present models of long-term sensitization in Aplysia californica indicate that the enhanced behavioral response is due, at least in part, to outgrowth of sensory neurons mediating defensive withdrawal reflexes. Presumably, this outgrowth strengthens pre-existing connections by formation of new synapses with follower neurons. However, the relationship between the number of sensorimotor contacts and the physiological strength of the connection has never been examined in intact ganglia. As a first step in addressing this issue, we used confocal microscopy to examine sites of contact between sensory and motor neurons in naive animals. Our results revealed relatively few contacts between physiologically connected …