Central Mechanosensory Lateral Line System in Amphibians

Abstract

In recent years neurobiological research on the lateral line system has produced an impressive body of knowledge not the least of which is evidenced by the present volume. In this chapter, present data on the central organization of the amphibian lateral line system will be reviewed. Commencing with the central termination of lateral line afferents, it will successively consider higher nuclear levels, taxonomic differences being discussed at each level. Yet, already at the medullary level, comparative neuroanatomical material exists mainly for only urodeles and anurans. As for the third amphibian order, gymnophionans, several studies have dealt with the peripheral lateral line system (Taylor 1970; Hethrington and Wake 1979; Fritzsch et al. 1985; Wahnschaffe et al. 1985). Knowledge about central connections, however, is still limited to a very few data. Furthermore, there are hardly any data on the physiology of the lateral line at the medullary level. Neuroanatomical data on higher projections, except for the projection to the mesencephalon in urodeles and gymnophionans, are available only for anurans. However, far from being complete, they are limited to the mesencephalon and its connections.