NERVOUS SYSTEMS IN INVERTEBRAT - M. A. Ali

. .

Résumé :
The idea of holding an Advanced Study Institute (ASI) and getting a volume out, on the Nervous Systems in Invertebrates first cropped up in the summer of 1977 at the ASI on Sensory Ecology. I had prepared a review of the nervous systems in coelomates and noticed how much we depended on Bullock and Horridge's treatise on the one hand and how much new material and requirements has cropped up since 1965, when this classical work was published. Interest in the concerted study of pollution and environmental toxicology was growing in geometrical proportions and the use of invertebrates as indices was growing. As a teacher of a course on the biology of invertebrates since the beginning of my career I had also noticed how the interest of the students and the content of my course was shifting gradually and steadily from the traditional morphology-taxonomy type to the physiology-ecology-embryology orientation. Students were demanding to know the relevency of what they had to learn. Thus, after the ASI on Photoreception and Vision in Invertebrates held in 1982 the question of one on nervous systems was raised by a number of colleagues. It appeared then that the consensus was that the time was ripe to hold one and that it will be worthwhile. Therefore, as usual arrangements had to begin at least two years in advance. Most of the persons I contacted to lecture and write chapters on selected topics agreed enthusiastically.

Sommaire:
Ultrastructure of invertebrate synapses.- Synapse formation between identified invertebrate neurons in vitro.- Identified neurons and cellular homologies.- Functions of invertebrate glia.- Neuropeptides in invertebrates.- Purification, characterisation and cellular distribution of insect neuropeptides with special emphasis on their relationship to biologically active peptides of vertebrates.- Neuroactive substances in the insect CNS.- Organization of conducting systems in simple invertebrates: Porifera, Cnidaria and Stenophora.- Organisation and development of the peripheral nervous system in annelids.- Ontogen?se du syst?me nerveux central des Ch?lic?rates et sa signification ?co-?thologique.- The nervous system of the Crustacea with special reference to the organisation of the sensory system.- Aspects of the functional and chemical anatomy of the insect brain.- Insect neurons: synaptic interactions, circuits and the control of behavior.- Ontogenesis of the nervous system in Cephalopods.- Nervous system in Chaetognatha.- Neurobiology of the Echinodermata.- Tunicates.- Nervous mechanisms of spawning in regular echinoids.- Neural control mechanisms in bioluminescence.- Acoustic communication in crickets: Behavioral and neuronal mechanisms of song recognition and localization.- A model for decision making in the insect nervous system.- General conclusions.- Species Index.