The Mauthner Cell

Abstract

Mauthner (1859) first described the large pair of axons in the fish spinal cord that, along with their medullary somata of origin traced by Goronwitsch (1888), now bear his name. Because this neuron can be unambiguously identified morphologically and electrophysiologically, it has become the most studied vertebrate cell, with several hundred relevant papers from the fields of neuroanatomy, developmental biology, neuroembryology, synaptology, electrophysiology, and molecular biology. References to most of them can be found in Neurobiology of the Mauthner Cell, which deals with all aspects of its biology. Each of the two Mauthner cells, or M-cells, in an individual is a command neuron that triggers a contralateral startle reflex in response to unexpected stimuli or in avoidance of predator attacks. For this purpose, they are organized as “miniature brains” with all basic mechanisms of synaptic transmission operational at their level.