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Comparison of Infrared Information Processing in Snakes and Bats.

Research Project

Project/Area Number 63044119
Research Category

Grant-in-Aid for international Scientific Research

Allocation TypeSingle-year Grants
SectionJoint Research
Research InstitutionYokohama City University

Principal Investigator

KADOTA Tetsuo (1990)  Yokohama City University・Instructor, 医学部, 助手 (70117745)

岸田 令次  横浜市立大学, 医学部, 助教授

Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) LEW Daniel  Museo de Historial Natural la Salle, 研究員
VANEGAS Hora  Instituto Venezolano de Investigationes, 教授
GORIS Richar  横浜市立大学, 医学部, 非常勤講師
KISHIDA Reiji  Yamaguchi University・Professor, 医学部, 教授 (50046132)
HORACIO Vanegas  Instituto Venezolano de Investigationes Cientificas, Professor
DANIEL Lew  Museo de Historia Natural la Salle・Investigador
RICHARD Goris  Yokohama City University・Instructor
Project Period (FY) 1988 – 1990
Project Status Completed (Fiscal Year 1990)
Budget Amount *help
¥5,200,000 (Direct Cost: ¥5,200,000)
Fiscal Year 1990: ¥1,200,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,200,000)
Fiscal Year 1989: ¥2,000,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,000,000)
Fiscal Year 1988: ¥2,000,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,000,000)
KeywordsVampire bats / Desmodus rotundus / Trigeminal system / Infrared sensory system / HRP tracing method / Substance P / Immunohistochemistry
Research Abstract

We injected HRP into the two branches of the trigeminal nerve (V1, V2) which innervate the pits (infrared receptors) of vampire bats (Desmodus rotundus), and into a third branch (V3) unrelated to the pits, and clarified the central projections of the neurons comprising these branches.
In snakes with infrared pit receptors, warm fibers form an independent structure in the medulla oblongata, the lateral descending tract of the trigeminal nerve (dlv) and its nucleus (DLV). This structure contains only warm fibers and is completely unrelated to other sensory modalities such as touch or pain. In the vampires, we were unable to find any such structure associated with either the trigeminal branches innervating the pits or with those not connected to the pits. In 1984 we published observations on a structure in the vampire brain "suspected of being associated with the bat infrared receptors", but in the present work we have discovered that this structure in reality has no direct connection with the infrared receptors. We concluded that infrared processing in the brain of vampires is fundamentally different from that in the brain of snakes.
To confirm this, we compared the distribution of substance P in the brainstem of vampires with that in the brainstem of mice and rats, using immunohistochemical staining techniques. We found no fundamental difference between the bats and the rodents.

Report

(1 results)
  • 1990 Final Research Report Summary

URL: 

Published: 1988-04-01   Modified: 2016-04-21  

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