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官适应和沟通。 我特别感兴趣的信号在水生环境中，由于固有的困难，在信号传播和接收水下，因为大量的可用物种和栖息地。 我最近的工作，以及拟议的研究的重点，是声学模态，但我从根本上感兴趣的是如何将多个感官系统整合到动物的生理和行为反应中。 我的实验室小组使用神经生理学，神经解剖学和行为技术的组合来确定声音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官进化中的作用。拟议的研究将集中在我最近所展示的水下声音探测的多模态性质上，并将评估感官进化的机械驱动因素。 耳和侧线（LL）机械感受器在细胞水平上的功能相似，都是有用的水下声音检测，但每一个的贡献仍然不清楚。 我的小组最近的工作表明，只关注耳朵错过了水下声音检测的综合性质，因此目前提出的研究旨在测试每个系统在这种反应中的作用的假设。 我将使用生理记录和行为反应的组合来测量耳朵和LL的反应，并量化这两个系统如何在大脑中整合以驱动反应。 这将提供深入了解不同的声音类型的鱼类的相关性，并通过引入比较物种的方法，我也将能够测试声学检测的生态和进化专业化的假设。 为了研究声音在感官生态学中的作用，我将在一系列栖息地使用被动声学记录来测试声学通信与自然和人为噪声水平之间的假设关系。以前的工作已经假设了一个重要的作用，影响鱼类沟通的背景噪音，但很少有直接的实验已经完成。 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。 拟议研究的组成部分将是在本科，硕士和博士水平的HQP的培训。 我将继续我目前的做法，将学生与最适合他们兴趣的项目相匹配，并在神经生理学，神经解剖学，行为分析和声学分析方面进行HQP培训。 总之，拟议的研究将为鱼类声学通信的神经行为学提供重要的新见解，并将该领域推向重要的新进化方向。

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.**