Neuroethology of acoustic communication in aquatic vertebrates

我的研究计划的长期目标是了解自然栖息地的感觉适应和交流。我对水环境中的信号特别感兴趣，因为水下信号传播和接收本身就有困难，而且现有物种和栖息地种类繁多。我最新的工作，也是拟议研究的重点，是声学模式，但我基本上感兴趣的是多种感觉系统如何整合到动物的生理和行为反应中。我的实验室团队使用神经生理学、神经解剖学和行为学技术相结合的方法来确定声信号在鱼类交流中的作用，并结合实地研究来破译环境参数在驱动感觉进化中的作用。*拟议的研究将专注于我最近展示的水下声音探测的多模式性质，并将评估感觉进化的机械驱动因素。耳朵和侧线机械感受器在细胞水平上的功能相似，都对水声检测有用，但各自的贡献尚不清楚。我的团队最近的工作表明，只关注耳朵会忽略水声检测的综合性，因此目前提出的研究旨在检验关于每个系统在这一反应中所起作用的假设。我将使用生理记录和行为反应相结合的方法来测量耳朵和后脑的反应，并量化这两个系统如何在大脑中整合以驱动反应。这将提供对不同声音类型与鱼类的相关性的洞察，并通过引入比较物种的方法；我还将能够测试关于声学检测的生态和进化专门化的假设。为了研究声音在感觉生态学背景下的作用，我将在一系列栖息地中使用被动声记录来测试声音交流与自然和人为噪音水平之间的假设关系。以前的工作假设了背景噪声在影响鱼类交流中的重要作用，但几乎没有进行直接的实验。最后，为了测试感觉发育背后的进化驱动因素，我将研究遗传和环境对感觉形态和功能的影响之间的相互作用。拟议的研究将包括本科生、硕士和博士水平的HQP培训。我将继续我目前的做法，将学生与最适合他们兴趣的项目进行匹配，并进行神经生理学、神经解剖学、行为分析和声学分析方面的HQP培训。综上所述，拟议的研究将为鱼类声通信的神经行为学提供重要的新见解，并推动该领域朝着重要的新进化方向发展。**

The long-term goal of my research program is to understand sensory adaptation and communication in natural habitats. I am particularly interested in signalling in the aquatic environment due to difficulties inherent in signal propagation and reception underwater and because of the vast array of available species and habitats. My most recent work, and the focus of the proposed research, is on the acoustic modality but I am fundamentally interested in how multiple sensory systems are integrated into a physiological and behavioural response in the animal. My lab group uses a combination of neurophysiology, neuroanatomy and behavioural techniques to ascertain the role of acoustic signalling in fish communication and incorporates field studies to decipher the role of environmental parameters in driving sensory evolution.***The proposed research will focus on what I have recently shown is the multimodal nature of underwater sound detection and will also assess mechanistic drivers of sensory evolution. Both the ear and lateral line (LL) mechanoreceptors function similarly at the cellular level and both are useful for underwater sound detection but the contribution of each remains unclear. Recent work from my group has shown that focusing only on the ear misses the integrative nature of underwater sound detection so the current proposed research is designed to test hypotheses on the role of each system in this response. I will use a combination of physiological recording and behavioural responses to measure the response of both the ear and LL and to quantify how these two systems integrate in the brain to drive responses. This will provide insight into the relevance of different sound types to fish and, by bringing in a comparative species approach; I will also be able to test hypotheses on the ecological and evolutionary specializations of acoustic detection. To examine the role of sound in a sensory ecology context, I will use passive acoustic recording in a range of habitats to test hypothesized relationships between acoustic communication and both natural and anthropogenic noise levels. Previous work has hypothesized an important role of background noise in affecting fish communication but little direct experimentation has been done.  Finally, to test evolutionary drivers behind sensory development, I will examine interactions between genetic and environmental influences on sensory morphology and function. Integral to the proposed research will be the training of HQP at the undergraduate, MSc and PhD levels. I will continue my current practice of matching students with projects that best suit their interests, with HQP training in neurophysiology, neuroanatomy, behavioural assays and acoustical analysis.  Taken together the proposed research will offer important new insights on the neuroethology of acoustic communication in fish and move the field in important new evolutionary directions.**