Plasticity
Application of serotonin was shown to increase inhibitory inputs to the M-cell, while application of dopamine - to increase the amplitude of both chemical and electrical components of the VIIIth nerve responses via a G protein-mediated activation of postsynaptic D2 receptor. An activity-dependent LTP can be evoked in M-cells by a high-frequency stimulation of the VIIIth nerve. Surprisingly, this LTP is electrical synapse-mediated, and is presumed to involve modification of the gap junction channels. A possibility of LTP induction by sensory stimuli in vivo, and the evidence for the LTP of inhibitory inputs to M-cells were also demonstrated.
Spontaneous preference in turn direction in young goldfish is correlated with one of the Mauthner cells being bigger than the other one. It is possible to change the preference of fish by raising them in conditions facilitating turns in a specific direction; this shift is accompanied by a correspondent change in M-cell sizes.
Read more about this topic: Mauthner Cell