The supraesophageal ganglion (also "supraoesophageal ganglion", "arthropod brain" or "microbrain") is the first part of the

arthropod Arthropods (, (gen. ποδός)) are invertebrate animals with an exoskeleton, a segmented body, and paired jointed appendages. Arthropods form the phylum Arthropoda. They are distinguished by their jointed limbs and cuticle made of chiti ...

, especially

insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three pa ...

central nervous system The central nervous system (CNS) is the part of the nervous system consisting primarily of the brain and spinal cord. The CNS is so named because the brain integrates the received information and coordinates and influences the activity of all p ...

. It receives and processes information from the first, second, and third metameres. The supraesophageal ganglion lies dorsal to the

esophagus The esophagus (American English) or oesophagus (British English; both ), non-technically known also as the food pipe or gullet, is an organ in vertebrates through which food passes, aided by peristaltic contractions, from the pharynx to t ...

and consists of three parts, each a pair of ganglia that may be more or less pronounced, reduced, or fused depending on the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

* The '' protocerebrum'', associated with the eyes ( compound eyes and ocelli). Directly associated with the eyes is the optic lobe, as the visual center of the brain. * The ''deutocerebrum'' processes sensory information from the antennae. It consists of two parts, the

antennal lobe The antennal lobe is the primary (first order) olfactory brain area in insects. The antennal lobe is a sphere-shaped deutocerebral neuropil in the brain that receives input from the olfactory sensory neurons in the antennae and mouthparts. Functi ...

and the

dorsal lobe The dorsal lobe of arthropods is also known as the ''Antenna (biology), antennal mechanosensory center'' in contrast to the Optic lobe (arthropods), Optic lobe (visual center) and the antennal lobe (olfactory center). Together with the antennal lob ...

. The dorsal lobe also contains motor neurons which control the antennal muscles. * The ''tritocerebrum'' integrates sensory inputs from the previous two pairs of ganglia. The lobes of the tritocerebrum split to circumvent the esophagus and begin the

subesophageal ganglion The suboesophageal ganglion (acronym: SOG; synonym: ''subesophageal ganglion'') of arthropods and in particular insects is part of the arthropod central nervous system (CNS). As indicated by its name, it is located ''below the'' ''oesophagus'', ins ...

The subesophageal ganglion continues the nervous system and lies ventral to the

. Finally, the

segmental ganglia The segmental ganglia (singular: s. ganglion) are ganglia of the annelid and arthropod central nervous system that lie in the segmented ventral nerve cord The ventral nerve cord is a major structure of the invertebrate central nervous system. It ...

of the

ventral nerve cord The ventral nerve cord is a major structure of the invertebrate central nervous system. It is the functional equivalent of the vertebrate spinal cord. The ventral nerve cord coordinates neural signaling from the brain to the body and vice versa, i ...

are found in each body segment as a fused ganglion; they provide the segments with some autonomous control. A locust brain dissection to expose the central brain and carry out electro-physiology recordings can be seen here.

References

External links

* Insect anatomy Fish anatomy Invertebrate nervous system {{Insect-anatomy-stub

See also

References

Further reading

External links