Sound and vibration: production and perception

声音和振动：产生和感知

• 批准号: RGPIN-2019-06223
• 负责人: Mhatre, Natasha
• 金额: $ 2.77万
• 依托单位: University of Western Ontario
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2020-01-01 至 2021-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=715644
• 关键词: Sound; vibration; production; perception

Many animals use sound and vibration to communicate with each other, to attract mates or to establish territories. They also use them to detect their predators and parasites, who inevitably make some sound or vibration even when they are trying to be stealthy. Since detecting these signals is often a matter of life-and-death, animals have evolved sensory systems that are exquisitely acute. On the other hand they have also developed different techniques of being very loud when they communicate with each other. The research that I am proposing seeks to understand the mechanical design and neurobiology of both the perception and production systems using insects and spiders as model systems. There are three main themes to my research programme. In the first theme, I will study a process called active auditory amplification. Active amplification is carried out by auditory sensory cells. The cells selectively amplify some signals over others by generating their own mechanical motion. There are different hypotheses about how this process works, and this project will provide evidence that will help us differentiate between these hypotheses. By illuminating the molecular mechanism, it will also help us develop hypothesis about the evolutionary origin of this process. I will use a new technique called optical coherence tomography (OCT) and measure cell motion inside the intact, and fully functioning auditory organs of different insects. In the second theme, I will study how spider vibration sensors work. Spiders use organs called slit sensilla for sensing vibrations. Slit sensilla appear like cracks in the exoskeleton and are concentrated around leg joints. When a spider experiences vibrations, its joints are bent by very small amounts and these forces are transmitted to the sensilla. How this transmission works, however is unknown. There are two hypotheses, one that structures inside the leg transmit the bending forces and the other that pressures changes inside the leg transmit the forces. But there is no direct evidence of either mechanism. Using the OCT system, we will be able to provide this evidence, by measuring the leg lumen for pressure and the joint structures for vibrations. In the last theme, I will study the singing behaviour of field crickets and katydids. Given their size, both are inefficient at producing sound, but they sing quite differently. Crickets sing with their wings raised and katydids with their wings held against the body. Katydid wings also look quite different, unlike crickets they are camouflaged to look like leaves. I will use vibration measurements and acoustic modelling to test whether the katydid mode of singing developed to improve their singing efficiency or their camouflage. The research I propose will answer important questions about the design and neurobiology of these miniature sensors that arthropods have perfected through evolution and will be very useful in providing biomimetic inspiration for sensor design.

许多动物利用声音和振动来相互交流、吸引配偶或建立领地。它们还用它们来检测捕食者和寄生虫，即使它们试图隐秘，也不可避免地会发出一些声音或振动。由于检测这些信号通常事关生死，因此动物进化出了极其敏锐的感觉系统。另一方面，他们也发展出了不同的技巧，在彼此交流时大声说话。我提出的研究旨在了解使用昆虫和蜘蛛作为模型系统的感知和生产系统的机械设计和神经生物学。 我的研究计划有三个主题。 在第一个主题中，我将研究一个称为主动听觉放大的过程。主动放大是由听觉感觉细胞进行的。细胞通过产生自己的机械运动来选择性地放大某些信号而不是其他信号。关于这个过程如何运作有不同的假设，这个项目将提供证据来帮助我们区分这些假设。通过阐明分子机制，它还将帮助我们提出关于这一过程的进化起源的假设。我将使用一种称为光学相干断层扫描 (OCT) 的新技术来测量不同昆虫完整且功能齐全的听觉器官内的细胞运动。 在第二个主题中，我将研究蜘蛛振动传感器的工作原理。蜘蛛使用称为狭缝感器的器官来感知振动。狭缝感器看起来像外骨骼中的裂缝，集中在腿部关节周围。当蜘蛛经历振动时，它的关节会轻微弯曲，这些力会传递到感器。然而，这种传输如何工作尚不清楚。有两种假设，一种假设是腿部内部的结构传递弯曲力，另一种假设是腿部内部的压力变化传递力。但这两种机制都没有直接证据。使用 OCT 系统，我们将能够通过测量腿部管腔的压力和关节结构的振动来提供这一证据。 在最后一个主题中，我将研究蟋蟀和螽斯的歌唱行为。考虑到它们的尺寸，两者的发声效率都很低，但它们的歌唱方式却截然不同。蟋蟀抬起翅膀唱歌，蝈蝈则用翅膀抵住身体唱歌。螽斯的翅膀看起来也很不同，与蟋蟀不同，它们伪装成树叶。我将使用振动测量和声学建模来测试蝈蝈的歌唱模式是否是为了提高它们的歌唱效率或伪装而发展起来的。 我提出的研究将回答有关节肢动物通过进化完善的这些微型传感器的设计和神经生物学的重要问题，并且对于为传感器设计提供仿生灵感非常有用。