The Lamprey

Lamprey Robots

We have developed a biologically based underwater, autonomous vehicle modeled after a simple vertebrate, the sea lamprey. The robot consists of a cylindrical Plexiglas electronics bay with a polyurethane undulator actuated by shape memory alloy artificial muscles. Sensors include a compass, pitch and roll inclinometers and sonar rangers, the signals of which are quantized into a labeled line co...

The spinobulbar system in lamprey.

Locomotor networks in the spinal cord are controlled by descending systems which in turn receive feedback signals from ascending systems about the state of the locomotor networks. In lamprey, the ascending system consists of spinobulbar neurons which convey spinal network signals to the two descending systems, the reticulospinal and vestibulospinal neurons. Previous studies showed that spinobul...

Body Muscles of the Lamprey

How Does the Lamprey Central Nervous System Make the Lamprey Swim?

The lamprey spinal cord, in isolation or with the brainstem, can be used in vitro. The motor patterns underlying the swimming movements can be elicited by: (1) a pharmacological activation of a specific type of neuronal receptor (NMDA-receptor), that may in other systems give rise to an unstable membrane potential, (2) by stimulation of the brainstem or (3) by tactile activation of skin regions...

The Nature of the Lamprey Visual Pigment

From the retina of the land-locked population of the sea lamprey, Petromyzon marinus, a photolabile pigment was extracted which was identified spectrophotometrically as a member of the rhodopsin group of pigments. Using the absorption spectrum of a relatively pure solution and analysis by means of difference spectra, the peak of this pigment was placed at about 497 mmicro. The method of selecti...