Cooperativity-dependent long-lasting potentiation in the crayfish lateral giant escape reaction circuit.

The ability of sensory neuron firing to cause the lateral giant escape reaction increases following repeated sensory volleys at 4 Hz for 10 sec. The increase occurs only when relatively large numbers of afferents are repetitively stimulated, decays with a mean time constant of 21 hr, is confined to the ganglia at which the repeated sensory volleys enter the nerve cord, and is at least partially specific to those roots of a ganglion that were tetanized. Transmission at the chemical synapses between afferents and the largest of the first-order sensory neurons that link afferents to the lateral giants displays a similar potentiation. This phenomenon shares many properties with hippocampal long-term potentiation.