CAREER: The coevolution of an eavesdropper sensory system in response to an ever evolving communication system

职业：窃听者感官系统响应不断发展的通信系统的共同进化

• 批准号: 2144831
• 负责人: Norman Lee
• 金额: $ 98.05万
• 依托单位: Saint Olaf College
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2022-06-01 至 2027-05-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2144831&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: CAREER; coevolution; eavesdropper; sensory; system

This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2).Signals in animal communication can evolve in response to actions from intended and unintended receivers. When signals change, it is unclear how sensory systems adapt, and respond to modification in signal features. The parasitoid fly Ormia ochracea eavesdrops on cricket calling songs to locate suitable host crickets to lay eggs on or near and parasitism results in cricket death. This pressure has driven the rapid development of novel calling songs among several populations of the Pacific field cricket in Hawaii, but not among other host cricket species in the continental United States. This creates a unique opportunity to track changes in the auditory system of an eavesdropper that may be attributed to differences in acoustic experience, behavioral plasticity, and the propensity to learn novel signals in response to signal evolution. The researcher will elucidate song features that O. ochracea evaluate to recognize cricket calling songs, track changes in the auditory system in response to signal change, and determine the role of auditory experience and learning in exploiting novel songs across populations over time. This research will be used to develop course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) that will broaden access to genuine research in the classroom. Research findings will also be applied to develop a portable pop-up museum exhibit on animal communication through a collaborative multidisciplinary effort between students in biology and art. Both educational aims seek to increase interest in STEM fields, and to reduce systemic barriers that have historically excluded underrepresented groups from entering and thriving in the STEM workforce.Since the conceptualization of the ‘receiver psychology’ framework, it has been recognized that the ‘psychology of receivers’ plays a significant role in shaping the evolution of communication signals. As signals evolve between senders and intended receivers, eavesdroppers must also adapt to changing signals. How this occurs in eavesdroppers, and its impacts on shaping the sensory systems underlying behavioral decisions is poorly known. Addressing these unresolved questions requires a better understanding of the eavesdropper’s receiver psychology, which includes the detectability, discriminability, and memorability of ancestral and novel signals. The researcher will determine signal detection and recognition thresholds from Ormia ochracea while performing walking phonotaxis on a high-speed treadmill system. To quantify the sensory basis of signal detection at the biomechanical level of analysis, laser Doppler vibrometry will be applied to characterize the frequency response of the tympanum and to determine its ability to detect ancestral and novel songs. At the neural level of analysis, neural signal detection thresholds will be quantified using extracellular recordings of auditory evoked potentials from the ascending auditory pathway. Across its geographic range in North America, Ormia ochracea are known to parasitize different host cricket species that produce different species-specific calling songs. Behavioral, biomechanical, and neural levels of analyses will be applied to characterize population level differences in the detection and recognition of ancestral cricket songs, and the role of auditory experience in learning to exploit novel song types.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

该奖项全部或部分由2021年美国救援计划法案（公法117-2）资助。动物交流中的信号可以根据预期和非预期接收者的行为而演变。当信号改变时，感觉系统如何适应并对信号特征的改变做出反应尚不清楚。寄生蝇Ormia ochracea偷听蟋蟀的叫声，以找到合适的宿主蟋蟀产卵或附近，寄生导致蟋蟀死亡。这种压力促使夏威夷的几个太平洋蟋蟀种群迅速发展出新颖的鸣叫，但在美国大陆的其他宿主蟋蟀物种中却没有。这创造了一个独特的机会来跟踪窃听者的听觉系统的变化，这些变化可能归因于声学体验、行为可塑性以及响应于信号演变而学习新信号的倾向的差异。研究者将阐明O. ochracea评估识别蟋蟀鸣叫，跟踪听觉系统响应信号变化的变化，并确定听觉体验和学习在利用人群中的新歌曲中的作用。这项研究将用于开发基于课程的本科生研究经验（CURES），这将扩大在课堂上获得真正的研究。研究结果也将被应用于开发一个便携式弹出式博物馆展览动物交流通过合作的多学科努力之间的学生在生物学和艺术这两个教育目标寻求提高兴趣在干领域，并减少系统性障碍，历史上排斥代表性不足的群体进入和蓬勃发展的干劳动力。已经认识到，“接收者的心理”在形成通信信号的演变中起着重要作用。随着信号在窃听者和目标接收者之间的演变，窃听者也必须适应不断变化的信号。这是如何发生在窃听者身上的，以及它对塑造行为决策背后的感觉系统的影响，人们知之甚少。解决这些悬而未决的问题需要更好地了解窃听者的接收心理，其中包括祖先和新信号的可检测性，可辨别性和可记忆性。研究人员将确定信号检测和识别阈值从Ormia赭色，同时执行步行phonotaxis上的高速跑步机系统。为了在生物力学分析水平上量化信号检测的感觉基础，将应用激光多普勒振动测量法来表征鼓室的频率响应，并确定其检测祖先和新歌曲的能力。在神经水平的分析中，将使用来自上行听觉通路的听觉诱发电位的细胞外记录来量化神经信号检测阈值。在北美洲的地理范围内，Ormia ochracea已知寄生于不同的宿主蟋蟀物种，这些物种产生不同的物种特异性叫声。行为，生物力学和神经水平的分析将被应用于表征人口水平的差异，在检测和识别祖先蟋蟀的歌曲，和听觉经验的作用，在学习利用新的歌曲types.This奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估的支持。