Evidence for stochastic resonance in a sensory system was first found in nerve signals from the mechanoreceptors located on the tail fan of the crayfish (Procambarus clarkii). An appendage from the tail fan was mechanically stimulated to trigger the cuticular hairs that the crayfish uses to detect pressure waves in water. The stimulus consisted of sinusoidal motion at 55.2 Hz with random Gaussian noise at varying levels of average intensity. Spikes along the nerve root of the terminal abdominal ganglion were recorded extracellularly for 11 cells and analyzed to determine the SNR.
