1,721,024 research outputs found
Acoustic Pattern Recognition and Courtship Songs: Insights from Insects
No full textAcross the animal kingdom, social interactions rely on sound production and perception. From simple cricket chirps to more elaborate bird songs, animals go to great lengths to communicate information critical for reproduction and survival via acoustic signals. Insects produce a wide array of songs to attract a mate, and the intended receivers must differentiate these calls from competing sounds, analyze the quality of the sender from spectrotemporal signal properties, and then determine how to react. Insects use numerically simple nervous systems to analyze and respond to courtship songs, making them ideal model systems for uncovering the neural mechanisms underlying acoustic pattern recognition. We highlight here how the combination of behavioral studies and neural recordings in three groups of insects-crickets, grasshoppers, and fruit flies-reveals common strategies for extracting ethologically relevant information from acoustic patterns and how these findings might translate to other systems
The Use of Computational Modeling to Link Sensory Processing with Behavior in Drosophila
No full textUnderstanding both how the brain represents information and how these representations drive behaviour are major goals of systems neuroscience. Even though genetic model organisms like Drosophila grant unprecedented experimental access to the nervous system for manipulating and recording neural activity, the complexity of natural stimuli and natural behaviours still poses significant challenges for solving the connections between neural activity and behaviour. Here, we advocate for the use of computational modelling to complement (and enhance) the Drosophila toolkit. We first lay out a modelling framework for making sense of the relation between natural sensory stimuli, neuronal responses, and natural behaviour. We then highlight how this framework can be used to reveal how neural circuits drive behaviour, using selected case studies
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Fast intensity adaptation enhances the encoding of sound in Drosophila
No full textAbstractTo faithfully encode complex stimuli, sensory neurons should correct, via adaptation, for stimulus properties that corrupt pattern recognition. Here we investigate sound intensity adaptation in the Drosophila auditory system, which is largely devoted to processing courtship song. Mechanosensory neurons (JONs) in the antenna are sensitive not only to sound-induced antennal vibrations, but also to wind or gravity, which affect the antenna’s mean position. Song pattern recognition, therefore, requires adaptation to antennal position (stimulus mean) in addition to sound intensity (stimulus variance). We discover fast variance adaptation in Drosophila JONs, which corrects for background noise over the behaviorally relevant intensity range. We determine where mean and variance adaptation arises and how they interact. A computational model explains our results using a sequence of subtractive and divisive adaptation modules, interleaved by rectification. These results lay the foundation for identifying the molecular and biophysical implementation of adaptation to the statistics of natural sensory stimuli.</jats:p
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Sensorimotor Transformations Underlying Variability in Song Intensity during Drosophila Courtship
No full textDiverse animal species, from insects to humans, utilize acoustic signals for communication.
Studies of the neural basis for song or speech production have focused almost exclusively on the
generation of spectral and temporal patterns, but animals can also adjust acoustic signal intensity
when communicating. For example, humans naturally regulate the loudness of speech in accord
with a visual estimate of receiver distance. The underlying mechanisms for this ability remain
uncharacterized in any system. Here, we show that Drosophila males modulate courtship song
amplitude with female distance, and we investigate each stage of the sensorimotor transformation
underlying this behavior, from the detection of particular visual stimulus features and the
timescales of sensory processing, to the modulation of neural and muscle activity that generates
song. Our results demonstrate an unanticipated level of control in insect acoustic communication,
and uncover novel computations and mechanisms underlying the regulation of acoustic signal
intensity during communication
Shared Song Object Detector Neurons in Drosophila Male and Female Brains Drive Divergent, Sex-Specific Behaviors
No full textMales and females often produce distinct responses to the same sensory stimuli. How such differences arise – at the level of sensory processing or in the circuits that generate behavior – remains largely unresolved across sensory modalities. We address this issue in the acoustic communication system of Drosophila. During courtship, males generate time-varying songs, and each sex responds with specific behaviors. We characterize male and female behavioral tuning for all aspects of song, and show that feature tuning is similar between sexes, suggesting sex-shared song detectors drive divergent behaviors. We then identify higher-order neurons in the Drosophila brain, called pC2, that are tuned for multiple temporal aspects of one mode of the male’s song, and drive sex-specific behaviors. We thus uncover neurons that are specifically tuned to an acoustic communication signal and that reside at the sensory-motor interface, flexibly linking auditory perception with sex-specific behavioral responses
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Shared Song Detector Neurons in Drosophila Male and Female Brains Drive Sex-Specific Behaviors
No full textMales and females often produce distinct responses to the same sensory stimuli. How such differences arise-at the level of sensory processing or in the circuits that generate behavior-remains largely unresolved across sensory modalities. We address this issue in the acoustic communication system of Drosophila. During courtship, males generate time-varying songs, and each sex responds with specific behaviors. We characterize male and female behavioral tuning for all aspects of song and show that feature tuning is similar between sexes, suggesting sex-shared song detectors drive divergent behaviors. We then identify higher-order neurons in the Drosophila brain, called pC2, that are tuned for multiple temporal aspects of one mode of the male's song and drive sex-specific behaviors. We thus uncover neurons that are specifically tuned to an acoustic communication signal and that reside at the sensory-motor interface, flexibly linking auditory perception with sex-specific behavioral responses
Role of Dopaminergic Neurons in Regulating Female Receptivity and Desirability during Courtship in Drosophila melanogaster
No full textAcoustic communication is important in the behaviors of many species, including
humans, birds, and flies. During courtship in Drosophila melanogaster, the male chases
the female while producing a species-specific song. Females process the male¿s song and
use the auditory cues to inform their behavior. It is likely that there is an ongoing
accumulation and integration of the information provided by male song. Dopamine has
previously been shown to play a significant role in regulating courtship behavior in D.
melanogaster. However, it is unknown which of the dopaminergic neurons in the brain
are necessary for this process. Identifying these neurons may reveal novel circuit
elements underlying female behavior. We silenced subsets of dopaminergic neurons in
the fly brain using tetanus toxin (TNT) and tested female receptivity in a courtship assay
with a wild type male. This allowed us to record the male song, track fly movement, and
score the time to copulation. Two clusters of neurons were found to have significant
effects on courtship behavior. Inactivation of the D1 cluster reduces female
attractiveness: males courted these females significantly less. Inactivation of the F2
cluster increases female receptivity: there is a significantly increased copulation rate.
Analysis of female responses to male song will also be assessed by correlating female
speed with male song using a generalized linear model (GLM). Future experiments will
confirm the role of the D1 and F2 subsets in controlling female receptivity and will test
their sufficiency in female behavior by activation via channelrhodopsins
Coordination in Action: Exploring the neural basis behind locomotor modulation of Drosophila courtship song
No full textActivation of Central Brain Neurons in Female Drosophila melanogaster Promotes a Persistent Internal State that Increases Courtship Receptivity and Aggression
No full textAcross species, decisions are driven by internal states, personal experience,
and sensory input. Acoustic communication between animals represents one
medium through which one animal can influence another’s behavior. This
relationship can be studied through the multisensory cues involved in Drosophila
melanogaster courtship and their influences on the female to mate. While the factors
that motivate and modulate the male’s production of courtship song have been
widely studied, the neuronal circuitry underlying the female’s processing and
response to song (such as receptivity to courtship) remain poorly understood. Using
the extensive genetic toolkit available for Drosophila melanogaster, we have
investigated the role of two neuronal clusters of the Drosophila protocerebrum (pC1,
pCd) in the dynamic sensorimotor transformations of the female fly. We have found
that while persistent inactivation of either pC1 or pCd decreases copulation success
by about half, optogenetically-stimulating pC1 (but not pCd) in the female brain
prior to courtship significantly promotes mating, as measured by shorter times to
copulation and increased copulation rates. Furthermore, by introducing a delay of
several minutes between optogenetic activation and courtship, we have established
that pC1 activation promotes a persistent internal state, as similar increases in
courtship receptivity are still observed. Interestingly, we have also found that their
activation also promotes aggressive behaviors towards the courting male,
suggesting some shared circuits for courtship and aggression in the fly brain. By
analyzing the relationship between aggression and courtship song, we have begun
to elucidate how the neuronal circuitry underlying aggression and courtship
receptivity are related. Our observations will add to the understanding of how both
internal states and ongoing sensory stimuli drive animal behavior on different
timescales, ranging from seconds to minutes
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