Medial giant interneuron

The medial giant neuron (MG) is an interneuron in the abdominal nerve cord of crayfish. It is part of the system that controls the caridoid escape reaction of crayfish, clawed lobsters, and other decapod crustaceans. Crayfish have a pair of medial giants running the length of the entire animal, and are the largest neurons in the animal.

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When a crayfish is given a sudden visual or tactile stimulus to the front part of the animal, the MG activates fast flexor motor neurons that cause the abdomen to flex, resulting in the crayfish moving directly backward, away from the source of the stimulation.

The medial giant interneurons are less well studied than the lateral giant neurons, which trigger a similar escape behavior.

References

Edwards DH, Heitler WJ, Krasne FB. 1999. Fifty years of a command neuron: the neurobiology of escape behavior in the crayfish. Trends in Neurosciences 22: 153-160.

Wine JJ. 1984. The structural basis of an innate behavioural pattern. The Journal of Experimental Biology 112: 283-319.

See also

• Squid giant axon