The Organization of Escape Behaviour in the Crayfish

Abstract

ABSTRACT Invertebrate escape reflexes have long been favoured preparations for investigating neuronal substrates of behaviour. The large size of many of their component neurones make them accessible to current micro-electrode techniques, and selection pressures for rapidity of response have probably caused them to evolve in the direction of the maximal neurological simplicity consistent with their function. Indeed, given our current technical and conceptual limitations, they are probably among the very few behaviour patterns that we may presently hope to analyse with any degree of completeness.