Abstract
The peptide proctolin can initiate strong pyloric and gastric rhythms from the stomatogastric ganglion (STG) of lobsters and crabs. To account for the effects of proctolin on the neural networks that produce the pyloric rhythms, we have attempted to determine the specific neural targets for proctolin, and to describe the membrane currents influenced by it. To this end, we have placed individual STG neurons in dissociated cell culture. We find that many of these neurons oscillate subsequent to hyperpolarizing pulses, and that proctolin increases the oscillatory activity of these neurons.