Sensorymotor system of scorpions

Overview

The sensorymotor control of arthropod walking is one of the best understood model system concerning the interactions between mechanical design, neural circuitry as well as the generation of behaviour by discrete muscle activity. The fact that this research is mostly carried out with arthropods has several reasons. First of all, todays methods allow the analysis from the level of synaptic modulation via the study of single neurons and neural networks up to behaviour. Furthermore, arthropods show an enormous flexibility of their behaviour (motoric intelligence), nevertheless, the underlying mechanisms can be characterized and quantitatively analyzed.

Since 1999, our lab analyzes the sensorymotor system of scorpions. Leg movements in natural conditions, behavioural patterns at obstacle detection as well as the role of hydrostatic pressure for body posture or the role of tactile hairs was analyzed.