1st Edition

Infrared Receptors and the Trigeminal Sensory System A Collection of Papers by S. Terashima, R.C. Goris et al.

Edited By S Terashima, R. C. Goris Copyright 1999

    Since the early 1950s, work has been undertaken on the infrared sensory organs of snakes by a handful of investigators around the world. Despite progress in uncovering the morphological, physiological and behavioral functions of these organs, study was discontinued by most of these workers. Not the least of the reasons was the fact that the infrared organs are possessed either by highly venomous snakes, the pit vipers, or by equally dangerous snakes because of their size, the pythons and boas.
    Only Drs Shin-ichi Terashima, MD, Ph.D. and Richard C. Goris, Ph.D. have continued to work actively on these sensory organs, their work spanning the 30 years from 1967 to the present. A first collection of their works, Infrared Sensory System, was published by the university of the Ryukyus in 1987. The present volume presents the papers by Terashima, Goris and their colleagues from 1987 to the present. Much new light is shed on the physiology and morphology of these organs, which can truly be said to be infrared 'eyes' whose input is integrated with that from the eyes. This volume will be of considerable interest to all those interested in infrared detection of any kind, whether in nature or in its multifarious industrial applications.

    1. Ultrastructure of the Crotaline Snake Infrared Pit Receptors: SEM Confirmation of TEM Findings 2. Single versus Repetitive Spiking to the Current Stimulus of A-B Mechanosensitive Neurons in the Crotaline Snake Trigeminal Ganglion 3. Distribution of NADPH-diaphorase in the Central Nervous System of an Infrared-sensitive Snake, Trimeresurus flavoviridis 4. The Ultrastructure of Infrared Receptors in a Boid Snake, Python regius: Evidence for Periodic Regeneration of the Terminals 5. Selective Labeling of (3H)2-deoxy-D-glucose in the Snake Trigeminal System: Basal and Infrared-stimulated Conditions 6. Temperature-induced Changes in the Number of Vesicles in the Free Nerve Endings of Temperature Neurons of the Snake 7. Calcitonin Gene-related Peptide Immunoreactivity in the Trigeminal Ganglion of Trimeresurus flavoviridis 8. Distinct Morphological Characteristics of Touch, Temperature and Mechanical Nociceptive Neurons in the Crotaline Trigeminal Ganglia 9. Somatosensory and Visual Correlation in the Optic Tectum of a Python, Python regius: A horseradish Peroxidase and Golgi Study 10. The Surface Architecture of Snake Infrared Receptor Organs 11. C Mechanical Nociceptive Neurons in the Crotaline Trigeminal Ganglia 12. Touch and Vibrotactile Neurons in a Crotaline Snake's Trigeminal Ganglia 13. Modality Difference in the Physiological Properties and Morphological Characteristics of the Trigeminal Sensory Neurons 14. Physiological Properties and Morphological Characetristics of Cutaneous and Mucosal Mechanical Nociceptive Neurons with A-B Peripheral Axons in the Trigeminal Ganglia of Crotaline Snakes 15. Visual and Infrared Input to the Same Dendrite in the Tectum Opticum of the Python, Python regius: Electron-microscopic Evidence 16. Innervation of Snake Pit Organ Membranes Mapped by Receptor Terminal Succinate Dehydrogenase Activity 17. Substance P-like Immunoreactivity in the Trigeminal Sensory Nuclei of an Infrared-sensitive Snake, Agkistrodon blomhoffi 18. Substance P-like Immunoreactive Fibers in the Trigeminal Sensory Nuclei of the Pit Viper, Trimeresurus flavovorodis 19. Chemoarchitectonics of the Brainstem in Infrared Sensitive and Nonsensitive Snakes

    Biography

    S Terashima (Edited by) , R. C. Goris (Yokohama City University, Japan) (Edited by)