Abstract
A nerve net is any plexus of neurons lying in the periphery and so connected as to provide a diffuse conduction system, i.e., one in which conduction can take place in any direction and in which many alternative routes exist between any two points. Plexuses in the skin of mammals (and other groups), even though extensively anastomosing, are not nerve nets as they do not conduct diffusely. Plexus is thus a more general term than nerve net. Neural modelers use the term nerve net in a special way for imaginary or simulated arrays.
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Further reading
Anderson PAV (1985): Physiology of a bidirectional, excitatory, chemical synapse. J Neurophysiol 53: 821–835.
Mackie GO (1984): Fast pathways and escape behavior in Cnidaria. In: Neural Mechanisms of Startle Behavior, Eaton RC, ed. New York: Plenum Press, pp 15–42.
Martin SM, Spencer AN (1983): Neurotransmitters in coelenterates. Comp Biochem Physiol 74C: 1–14.
Shelton GAB, ed (1982): Electrical Conduction and Behavior in’ simple’ Invertebrates. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Spencer AN, Arkett SA (1984): Radial symmetry and the organization of central neurons in a hydrozoan jellyfish. J Exp Biol 110: 69–90.
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Mackie, G.O. (1988). Nerve Nets. In: Comparative Neuroscience and Neurobiology. Readings from the Encyclopedia of Neuroscience . Birkhäuser, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-6776-3_34
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-6776-3_34
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