Bi-Modal Chemical and Mechanical Signal Detection

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IBN: 9723542 PI: ATEMA Smell and taste are senses that detect chemicals in the environment, but they do not work in isolation. In the aquatic environment with high viscosity compared to air, chemical "plumes" are carried in currents and can have complex spatial and temporal structure over long distances. Animals in the water are subject to hydrodynamic stimulation by water currents as well, and it is largely unknown how the tactile stimulation from a swift current may affect the chemosensory input, compared to the same chemosensory signal in gently drifting water. This project uses a multidisciplinary approach incorporating hydrodynamics, ultrastructural anatomy and electrophysiology on a crustacean as a model invertebrate chemosensory system. Morphological types of sensory cells in the appendages such as the antenna will be identified, and tested for physiological sensitivity to combinations of chemosensory signals and mechanosensory stimuli. Results will help determine how peripheral integration of multimodal signals might occur, will be important beyond chemosensory science to sensory neuroscience in general, and will have potential applications for technological development of robotic sensory devices.