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

该奖项的全部或部分资金来自《2021年美国救援计划法案》(公法117-2)。动物交流中的信号可以随着有意和无意的接受者的行动而演变。当信号改变时，尚不清楚感觉系统如何适应和响应信号特征的改变。该寄生蝇窃听蟋蟀的鸣叫声，寻找合适的寄主在其上或其附近产卵，寄生后导致蟋蟀死亡。这种压力推动了夏威夷几个太平洋田野蟋蟀种群中新奇叫声的迅速发展，但在美国大陆的其他寄主蟋蟀物种中却并非如此。这创造了一个独特的机会来跟踪窃听者听觉系统的变化，这可能归因于声音经验、行为可塑性和学习新信号的倾向对信号进化的反应方面的差异。研究人员将阐明Ochracea对识别蟋蟀叫声进行评估的歌曲特征，跟踪听觉系统对信号变化的反应，并确定随着时间的推移，听觉经验和学习在跨种群开发新歌曲中的作用。这项研究将被用来发展基于课程的本科生研究经验(CURE)，这将扩大在课堂上进行真正研究的途径。研究成果还将被应用于开发一个便携式弹出式博物馆展览，通过生物学和艺术专业的学生之间的多学科合作，展示动物交流。这两个教育目标都寻求提高人们对STEM领域的兴趣，并减少历来排斥代表性不足的群体进入STEM并在STEM工作中蓬勃发展的系统性障碍。自从“接受者心理学”框架的概念化以来，人们已经认识到，“接受者心理”在塑造通信信号的演变中发挥着重要作用。随着信号在发送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。这种情况是如何发生在窃听者身上的，以及它对形成行为决定所依据的感觉系统的影响，人们知之甚少。要解决这些悬而未决的问题，需要更好地了解窃听者的接收者心理，包括对祖先和新信号的可检测性、可识别性和记忆性。研究人员将在高速跑步机系统上执行行走语音趋向性时，确定奥米亚赭目动物的信号检测和识别阈值。为了在生物力学水平上量化信号检测的感官基础，将应用激光多普勒测振仪来表征鼓膜的频率响应，并确定其检测祖先和新歌的能力。在神经分析层面，神经信号检测阈值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。众所周知，在北美的整个地理范围内，蟋蟀都会寄生在不同的寄主物种上，这些物种会产生不同的物种特有的叫声。将应用行为、生物力学和神经水平的分析来表征种群水平在检测和识别祖先板球歌曲方面的差异，以及听觉经验在学习利用新歌曲类型方面的作用。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并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，被认为值得支持。

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.