Oscillating contractions in protoplasmic strands of Physarum: Infrared reflexion as a non-invasive registration technique

An inexpensive electronic device employing a miniaturised infrared reflection detector is described which enables the automatic registration of intrinsic radial contraction activities of protoplasmic strands of Physarum growing on their original substrate. Advantages and shortcoming of the new registration technique are discussed in relation to recent tensiometric techniques applied to protoplasmic strands for analysing the contraction physiology of cytoplasmic actomyosins, the force generating substrate of the contraction automaticity in the Physarum system.