Scorpion pectines detect chemical and physical stimuli via thousands of peg sensilla on ground-facing teeth. Each sensillum has multiple neurons that detect stimuli and transmit neural impulses to the subesophageal ganglion (SEG) in the central nervous system. Anatomically, the organization of the pectinal neuropil in the SEG reflects the arrangement of pectinal teeth, suggesting conservation of information about stimulus location in the SEG. In this study, neural impulses from the pectinal nerve of the striped bark scorpion (Centruroides vittatus) were recorded in the pecten, abdominal cavity, and SEG using electrophysiology. Recordings from the right pectinal nerve in the pecten showed that right tooth stimulations elicit sensory activity milliseconds before motor feedback, while left tooth stimulations only evoked motor spikes, suggesting no contralateral afferent communication between pectines. In the abdominal cavity recordings, two distinct waveforms (PN1 and PN2) were detected in baseline activity; PN1 seemed to enhance the likelihood that PN2 would fire, suggesting a possible excitatory interaction. Recordings from the SEG showed that mechanically stimulating different pectinal teeth evoked different compound neural activity patterns in the same SEG location. Stimulating the same tooth in succession showed mechanosensory adaptation. These recordings show promise for continued electrophysiological investigations of the scorpion SEG, and, in particular, how information from the pectines is processed and used for orientation.

蝎子果胶通过面向地面的牙齿上的数千个钉感器检测化学和物理刺激。每个感觉器都有多个神经元，可以检测刺激并将神经冲动传输到中枢神经系统的食管下神经节 (SEG)。从解剖学上讲，SEG 中的梳状神经纤维的组织反映了梳状齿的排列，这表明 SEG 中有关刺激位置的信息是保守的。在这项研究中，使用电生理学记录了条纹树蝎（Centruroides vittatus）的梳齿、腹腔和SEG中来自梳状神经的神经冲动。来自梳状体中右侧梳状神经的记录显示，右侧牙齿刺激在运动反馈前几毫秒引发感觉活动，而左侧牙齿刺激仅引起运动尖峰，表明梳状神经之间没有对侧传入通讯。在腹腔记录中，在基线活动中检测到两个不同的波形（PN1 和 PN2）； PN1 似乎增强了 PN2 激发的可能性，表明可能存在兴奋性相互作用。 SEG 的记录显示，机械刺激不同的梳齿会在同一 SEG 位置引起不同的复合神经活动模式。连续刺激同一颗牙齿显示出机械感觉适应。这些记录显示了对蝎子 SEG 进行持续电生理学研究的希望，特别是来自果胶的信息如何被处理和用于定向。