RUI: Neural Basis for call Recognition and Response

对许多动物来说，听觉的主要作用是交流。有证据表明，许多动物的大脑都有神经细胞或神经回路，它们以某种方式专门“调谐”来识别特定的时间、持续时间或声音模式，如求偶声。蟋蟀为研究提供了非常有用的模型，因为它们有单一的、可识别的神经细胞，可以进行生理记录。这个项目调查了单个神经细胞在控制雌性蟋蟀对雄性声音信号的识别和反应中所起的作用。单个细胞的解剖结构和编码特性将使用具有可变参数的合成调用来确定。研究人员开发了一种方法，在动物积极活动时，从单个细胞同时记录，转向识别的声源。强大的单细胞失活新技术将与行为试验一起用于确定这些单细胞在呼叫识别和响应中的作用。激素对这些细胞和行为的影响也将被测试。结果将建立这种反应行为背后的细胞回路，这将使听觉科学家感到兴奋，也将使那些研究信号编码、神经回路或交流行为的人感兴趣。研究结果也可能与昆虫生物学和防治有关。

A major role for hearing in many animals is communication. There is evidence that many animal brains have nerve cells or nerve circuits that are in some way specifically "tuned" to recognize particular timing, duration, or pattern of sounds such as mating calls. Crickets have provided very useful models for investigation because they have single, identifiable nerve cells that are accessible for physiological recording. This project investigates the roles that individual nerve cells play in controlling the female cricket's recognition of and response to acoustic signals from the male. The anatomy and encoding properties of single cells will be determined using synthetic calls with variable parameters. Methods are developed to simultaneously record from single cells while the animal is actively behaving, turning toward the recognized sound source. Powerful new techniques for inactivation of single cells then will be used with a behavioral assay to determine the role of those single cells in the call recognition and response. The influences of hormones on these cells and on the behaviors also will be tested. Results will establish the cellular circuitry underlying this response behavior, and will be exciting to auditory scientists, and also should be interesting to those working on signal coding, neural circuits, or communication behavior. Results may also be relevant to aspects of insect biology and control.