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Encyclopedia of Computational Neuroscience pp 1–6Cite as

Cercal System

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Definition

The cercal system is a mechanosensory system in orthopteran insects, which mediates the detection, localization, and identification of air currents surrounding animals. The receptor organ for this modality is a pair of antenna-like appendages called cerci at the rear of the abdomen, covered with mechanosensory hairs like the bristles on a bottlebrush (Fig. 1). Air currents in the animal’s immediate environment move these hairs and, thereby, activate the receptor neurons at the base of the hairs. The cercal system is implemented around an internal representation of stimulus direction and dynamics that demonstrates the essential features of neural maps found in more complex systems, including mammalian visual and auditory systems. Over the last several decades, this system of the cricket has been used as a simple “model system” for investigations of development, mechanoreceptor biomechanics, neural maps, and neural coding (Jacobs et al. 2008).

Fig. 1
figure 1

The cricket cercal system....

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological Science, Faculty of Science, Hokkaido University, Kita 10 Nishi 8, Kita-ku, 060-0810, Sapporo, Japan

    Hiroto Ogawa Ph.D.

  2. Department of Cell Biology and Neuroscience, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT, USA

    Prof. John P. Miller

Authors
  1. Hiroto Ogawa Ph.D.
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  2. Prof. John P. Miller
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Correspondence to Hiroto Ogawa Ph.D. .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Atlanta, Georgia, USA

    Dieter Jaeger

  2. Department of Biomedical Engineering, Florida International University, Miami, Florida, USA

    Ranu Jung

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Ogawa, H., Miller, J.P. (2013). Cercal System. In: Jaeger, D., Jung, R. (eds) Encyclopedia of Computational Neuroscience. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7320-6_322-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7320-6_322-3

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  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-7320-6

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Chapter history

  1. Latest

    Cercal System
    Published:
    09 October 2019

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7320-6_322-4

  2. Original

    Cercal System
    Published:
    01 March 2014

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7320-6_322-3

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