Hearing in Insects

Göpfert, Martin C.; Hennig, R. Matthias

doi:10.1146/annurev-ento-010715-023631

Cited by 70 publications

(46 citation statements)

References 154 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…This indicates that the broad response selectivity of JO-A neurons described previously is attributed to the summation of distinct response properties in a heterogeneous neural population. In contrast to insect tympanal ears and mammalian cochlea, in which frequency tuning is provided by the mechanics of the sound-receiving and sound-transmitting structures, the insect antennal ear functions as a single resonant filter (Göpfert and Hennig, 2016). Because all JO neurons would experience the same mechanical frequency filtering by the antenna, the mechanism underlying the different response properties of JO-A neurons could be attributed to intrinsic acoustic tuning processes.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Anatomic and Physiologic Heterogeneity of Subgroup-A Auditory Sensory Neurons in Fruit Flies

Ishikawa

Okamoto

Nakamura

et al. 2017

Front. Neural Circuits

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The antennal ear of the fruit fly detects acoustic signals in intraspecific communication, such as the courtship song and agonistic sounds. Among the five subgroups of mechanosensory neurons in the fly ear, subgroup-A neurons respond maximally to vibrations over a wide frequency range between 100 and 1,200 Hz. The functional organization of the neural circuit comprised of subgroup-A neurons, however, remains largely unknown. In the present study, we used 11 GAL4 strains that selectively label subgroup-A neurons and explored the diversity of subgroup-A neurons by combining single-cell anatomic analysis and Ca2+ imaging. Our findings indicate that the subgroup-A neurons that project into various combinations of subareas in the brain are more anatomically diverse than previously described. Subgroup-A neurons were also physiologically diverse, and some types were tuned to a narrow frequency range, suggesting that the response of subgroup-A neurons to sounds of a wide frequency range is due to the existence of several types of subgroup-A neurons. Further, we found that an auditory behavioral response to the courtship song of flies was attenuated when most subgroup-A neurons were silenced. Together, these findings characterize the heterogeneous functional organization of subgroup-A neurons, which might facilitate species-specific acoustic signal detection.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Anatomic and Physiologic Heterogeneity of Subgroup-A Auditory Sensory Neurons in Fruit Flies

Ishikawa

Okamoto

Nakamura

et al. 2017

Front. Neural Circuits

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Instead, the auditory system, like any biological system, has evolved to help animals to find food, escape predators, and mate. The sensory ecology of each species, together with the laws of physics, are therefore the major factors controlling animal hearing.Because sensitive hearing evolved independently multiple times in different animals, a comparison of hearing in these animals is useful for understanding the fundamental principles that govern the structure and function of the auditory system [9,10]. In this review, we use this comparative approach to highlight several fundamental mechanisms of hearing in the peripheral and central auditory systems of insects and vertebrates, discussing similarities as well as differences in the context of the animals' sensory ecology.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The rich diversity of insect hearing organs, in turn, largely reflects the richness and diversity of insects themselves. Only a fleetingly small number of insect species is expected to possess a sense of hearing [122], but, accounting for an expected 5.5 million species alone [123], insects have served and will continue to serve as a near inexhaustible treasure trove for research into hearing and acoustic communication.A recent study may exemplify these relationships and also indicate some directions that future research could take. Hearing in Drosophila was found to be independent of efferent control [36], and no efferent innervation had previously been reported for any other insect; however, it has now been detected in the antennal ears of mosquitoes, where it modulates both frequency tuning and amplificatory gain [124].…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Comparative Aspects of Hearing in Vertebrates and Insects with Antennal Ears

Albert¹,

Kozlov

2016

Current Biology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The evolution of hearing in terrestrial animals has resulted in remarkable adaptations enabling exquisitely sensitive sound detection by the ear and sophisticated sound analysis by the brain. In this review, we examine several such characteristics, using examples from insects and vertebrates. We focus on two strong and interdependent forces that have been shaping the auditory systems across taxa: the physical environment of auditory transducers on the small, subcellular scale, and the sensory-ecological environment within which hearing happens, on a larger, evolutionary scale. We briefly discuss acoustical feature selectivity and invariance in the central auditory system, highlighting a major difference between insects and vertebrates as well as a major similarity. Through such comparisons within a sensory ecological framework, we aim to emphasize general principles underlying acute sensitivity to airborne sounds.Introduction Auditory physiology offers a distinctive perspective on the interaction between a sensory system and its environment. On the one hand, auditory systems in vertebrates and insects with sensitive hearing are capable of remarkable performances on multiple levels, both within the sensory periphery where the minute energies associated with sound are converted into electrical signals, as well as within higher-order brain areas where complex natural stimuli such as human speech are processed. For example, displacements caused by acoustical stimuli in the inner ear at the threshold of hearing are sub-nanometer and comparable to the distance between atoms in molecules [1]. Furthermore, thermal fluctuations in the ear's mechanotransduction apparatus not only are significant, but also can be larger than the faintest audible signals, making signal detection a challenging task [2]. Ascending the sensory hierarchy, one encounters other marvels of evolution, such as the ability of individual neurons to encode -using millisecond-long action potentials -inter-aural time differences of only about ten microseconds, and to use this information to localize the source of the sound [3,4]. No engineered system has yet been designed that could understand distorted speech in a noisy and reverberating environment with multiple speakers. That our auditory system achieves this feat is testament to its remarkable performance.On the other hand, an engineer could argue that the auditory system's performance is objectively poor, even in animals with sensitive hearing: at the very first step, during the mechanoelectrical transduction in the inner ear, external sounds are distorted, or even completely suppressed, while new tones are generated by the ear itself [5]. Forward and backward masking, illusory percepts of nonexistent tones (such as the Zwicker illusion [6]), perceptual merging of separate auditory streams, the precedence effect suppressing the perception of echoes that has been demonstrated in insects and vertebrates [7,8] (and which some blind people can unsuppress), auditory hallucinations, and a frustrating inab...

show abstract

“…Excellent reviews have covered large areas of sound production [251,259,260] and perception. [261] Stridulation is the act of producing sound by rubbing together body parts that contain structured vibrational elements. Insects perform this task ad nauseam by rubbing one structure with a well-defined lip (the so-called "scraper" or plectrum) across a finely ridged surface (the "file") or vice versa, generating vibrations in the process (Figure 12A-D).…”

Section: Sound Production In Insectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

It's Not a Bug, It's a Feature: Functional Materials in Insects

2018

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Over the course of their wildly successful proliferation across the earth, the insects as a taxon have evolved enviable adaptations to their diverse habitats, which include adhesives, locomotor systems, hydrophobic surfaces, and sensors and actuators that transduce mechanical, acoustic, optical, thermal, and chemical signals. Insect‐inspired designs currently appear in a range of contexts, including antireflective coatings, optical displays, and computing algorithms. However, as over one million distinct and highly specialized species of insects have colonized nearly all habitable regions on the planet, they still provide a largely untapped pool of unique problem‐solving strategies. With the intent of providing materials scientists and engineers with a muse for the next generation of bioinspired materials, here, a selection of some of the most spectacular adaptations that insects have evolved is assembled and organized by function. The insects presented display dazzling optical properties as a result of natural photonic crystals, precise hierarchical patterns that span length scales from nanometers to millimeters, and formidable defense mechanisms that deploy an arsenal of chemical weaponry. Successful mimicry of these adaptations may facilitate technological solutions to as wide a range of problems as they solve in the insects that originated them.

show abstract

Hearing in Insects

Cited by 70 publications

References 154 publications

Anatomic and Physiologic Heterogeneity of Subgroup-A Auditory Sensory Neurons in Fruit Flies

Anatomic and Physiologic Heterogeneity of Subgroup-A Auditory Sensory Neurons in Fruit Flies

Comparative Aspects of Hearing in Vertebrates and Insects with Antennal Ears

It's Not a Bug, It's a Feature: Functional Materials in Insects

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About