Kinematics of the buccal mass during swallowing based on magnetic resonance imaging in intact, behaving Aplysia californica.

A novel magnetic resonance imaging interface has been developed that makes it possible to image movements in intact, freely moving subjects. We have used this interface to image the internal structures of the feeding apparatus (i.e. the buccal mass) of the marine mollusc Aplysia californica. The temporal and spatial resolution of the resulting images is sufficient to describe the kinematics of specific muscles of the buccal mass and the internal movements of the main structures responsible for grasping food, the radula and the odontophore. These observations suggest that a previously undescribed feature on the anterior margin of the odontophore, a fluid-filled structure that we term the prow, may aid in opening the jaw lumen early in protraction. Radular closing during swallowing occurs near the peak of protraction as the radular stalk is pushed rapidly out of the odontophore. Retraction of the odontophore is enhanced by the closure of the lumen of the jaws on the elongated odontophore, causing the odontophore to rotate rapidly towards the esophagus. Radular opening occurs after the peak of retraction and without the active contraction of the protractor muscle 12 and is due, in part, to the movement of the radular stalk into the odontophore. The large variability between responses also suggests that the great flexibility of swallowing responses may be due to variability in neural control and in the biomechanics of the ingested food and to the inherent flexibility of the buccal mass.