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Yang Y, Zhu F, Zhang X, Chen P, Wang Y, Zhu J, Ding Y, Cheng L, Li C, Jiang H, Wang Z, Lin P, Shi T, Wang M, Liu Q, Xu N, Liu M. Firing feature-driven neural circuits with scalable memristive neurons for robotic obstacle avoidance. Nat Commun 2024; 15:4318. [PMID: 38773067 PMCID: PMC11109161 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-48399-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/18/2023] [Accepted: 04/30/2024] [Indexed: 05/23/2024] Open
Abstract
Neural circuits with specific structures and diverse neuronal firing features are the foundation for supporting intelligent tasks in biology and are regarded as the driver for catalyzing next-generation artificial intelligence. Emulating neural circuits in hardware underpins engineering highly efficient neuromorphic chips, however, implementing a firing features-driven functional neural circuit is still an open question. In this work, inspired by avoidance neural circuits of crickets, we construct a spiking feature-driven sensorimotor control neural circuit consisting of three memristive Hodgkin-Huxley neurons. The ascending neurons exhibit mixed tonic spiking and bursting features, which are used for encoding sensing input. Additionally, we innovatively introduce a selective communication scheme in biology to decode mixed firing features using two descending neurons. We proceed to integrate such a neural circuit with a robot for avoidance control and achieve lower latency than conventional platforms. These results provide a foundation for implementing real brain-like systems driven by firing features with memristive neurons and put constructing high-order intelligent machines on the agenda.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yue Yang
- State Key Laboratory of Integrated Chips and Systems, Frontier Institute of Chip and System, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200433, China
- Key Laboratory of Microelectronics Device & Integrated Technology, Institute of Microelectronics of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100029, China
| | - Fangduo Zhu
- State Key Laboratory of Integrated Chips and Systems, Frontier Institute of Chip and System, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200433, China
| | - Xumeng Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Integrated Chips and Systems, Frontier Institute of Chip and System, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200433, China.
| | - Pei Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Integrated Chips and Systems, Frontier Institute of Chip and System, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200433, China
| | - Yongzhou Wang
- Key Laboratory of Microelectronics Device & Integrated Technology, Institute of Microelectronics of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100029, China
| | - Jiaxue Zhu
- Key Laboratory of Microelectronics Device & Integrated Technology, Institute of Microelectronics of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100029, China
| | - Yanting Ding
- State Key Laboratory of Integrated Chips and Systems, Frontier Institute of Chip and System, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200433, China
| | - Lingli Cheng
- State Key Laboratory of Integrated Chips and Systems, Frontier Institute of Chip and System, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200433, China
- Key Laboratory of Microelectronics Device & Integrated Technology, Institute of Microelectronics of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100029, China
| | - Chao Li
- State Key Laboratory of Integrated Chips and Systems, Frontier Institute of Chip and System, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200433, China
- Key Laboratory of Microelectronics Device & Integrated Technology, Institute of Microelectronics of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100029, China
| | - Hao Jiang
- State Key Laboratory of Integrated Chips and Systems, Frontier Institute of Chip and System, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200433, China
| | - Zhongrui Wang
- Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 999077, China
| | - Peng Lin
- College of Computer Science and Technology, Zhejiang University, Zhejiang, 310027, China
| | - Tuo Shi
- Key Laboratory of Microelectronics Device & Integrated Technology, Institute of Microelectronics of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100029, China
| | - Ming Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Integrated Chips and Systems, Frontier Institute of Chip and System, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200433, China
| | - Qi Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Integrated Chips and Systems, Frontier Institute of Chip and System, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200433, China.
- Key Laboratory of Microelectronics Device & Integrated Technology, Institute of Microelectronics of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100029, China.
| | - Ningsheng Xu
- State Key Laboratory of Integrated Chips and Systems, Frontier Institute of Chip and System, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200433, China
| | - Ming Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Integrated Chips and Systems, Frontier Institute of Chip and System, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200433, China
- Key Laboratory of Microelectronics Device & Integrated Technology, Institute of Microelectronics of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100029, China
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Scherberich J, Stange-Marten A, Schöneich S, Merdan-Desik M, Nowotny M. Multielectrode array use in insect auditory neuroscience to unravel the spatio-temporal response pattern in the prothoracic ganglion of Mecopoda elongata. J Exp Biol 2024; 227:jeb245497. [PMID: 38197244 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.245497] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/16/2023] [Accepted: 12/27/2023] [Indexed: 01/11/2024]
Abstract
Mechanoreceptors in hearing organs transduce sound-induced mechanical responses into neuronal signals, which are further processed and forwarded to the brain along a chain of neurons in the auditory pathway. Bushcrickets (katydids) have their ears in the front leg tibia, and the first synaptic integration of sound-induced neuronal signals takes place in the primary auditory neuropil of the prothoracic ganglion. By combining intracellular recordings of the receptor activity in the ear, extracellular multichannel array recordings on top of the prothoracic ganglion and hook electrode recordings at the neck connective, we mapped the timing of neuronal responses to tonal sound stimuli along the auditory pathway from the ears towards the brain. The use of the multielectrode array allows the observation of spatio-temporal patterns of neuronal responses within the prothoracic ganglion. By eliminating the sensory input from one ear, we investigated the impact of contralateral projecting interneurons in the prothoracic ganglion and added to previous research on the functional importance of contralateral inhibition for binaural processing. Furthermore, our data analysis demonstrates changes in the signal integration processes at the synaptic level indicated by a long-lasting increase in the local field potential amplitude. We hypothesize that this persistent increase of the local field potential amplitude is important for the processing of complex signals, such as the conspecific song.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jan Scherberich
- Animal Physiology Group, Institute of Zoology and Evolutionary Research, Friedrich-Schiller-University, 07743 Jena, Germany
| | - Annette Stange-Marten
- Animal Physiology Group, Institute of Zoology and Evolutionary Research, Friedrich-Schiller-University, 07743 Jena, Germany
| | - Stefan Schöneich
- Animal Physiology Group, Institute of Zoology and Evolutionary Research, Friedrich-Schiller-University, 07743 Jena, Germany
| | - Melisa Merdan-Desik
- Animal Physiology Group, Institute of Zoology and Evolutionary Research, Friedrich-Schiller-University, 07743 Jena, Germany
- Neurobiology and Biosensors Group, Institute of Cell Biology and Neuroscience, Goethe University, 60438 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Manuela Nowotny
- Animal Physiology Group, Institute of Zoology and Evolutionary Research, Friedrich-Schiller-University, 07743 Jena, Germany
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Lu A, Fukutomi M, Shidara H, Ogawa H. Persistence of auditory modulation of wind-induced escape behavior in crickets. Front Physiol 2023; 14:1153913. [PMID: 37250114 PMCID: PMC10214467 DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2023.1153913] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/30/2023] [Accepted: 04/27/2023] [Indexed: 05/31/2023] Open
Abstract
Animals, including insects, change their innate escape behavior triggered by a specific threat stimulus depending on the environmental context to survive adaptively the predators' attack. This indicates that additional inputs from sensory organs of different modalities indicating surrounding conditions could affect the neuronal circuit responsible for the escape behavior. Field crickets, Gryllus bimaculatus, exhibit an oriented running or jumping escape in response to short air puff detected by the abdominal mechanosensory organ called cerci. Crickets also receive a high-frequency acoustic stimulus by their tympanal organs on their frontal legs, which suggests approaching bats as a predator. We have reported that the crickets modulate their wind-elicited escape running in the moving direction when they are exposed to an acoustic stimulus preceded by the air puff. However, it remains unclear how long the effects of auditory inputs indicating surrounding contexts last after the sound is terminated. In this study, we applied a short pulse (200 ms) of 15-kHz pure tone to the crickets in various intervals before the air-puff stimulus. The sound given 200 or 1000 ms before the air puff biased the wind-elicited escape running backward, like the previous studies using the longer and overlapped sound. But the sounds that started 2000 ms before and simultaneously with the air puff had little effect. In addition, the jumping probability was higher only when the delay of air puff to the sound was 1000 ms. These results suggest that the cricket could retain the auditory memory for at least one second and alter the motion choice and direction of the wind-elicited escape behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anhua Lu
- Graduate School of Life Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan
| | - Matasaburo Fukutomi
- Department of Biology, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, United States
| | - Hisashi Shidara
- Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan
- Department of Biochemistry, Graduate School of Medicine, Mie University, Tsu, Japan
| | - Hiroto Ogawa
- Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan
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Neurophysiology goes wild: from exploring sensory coding in sound proof rooms to natural environments. J Comp Physiol A Neuroethol Sens Neural Behav Physiol 2021; 207:303-319. [PMID: 33835199 PMCID: PMC8079291 DOI: 10.1007/s00359-021-01482-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2021] [Revised: 03/21/2021] [Accepted: 03/23/2021] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
Abstract
To perform adaptive behaviours, animals have to establish a representation of the physical "outside" world. How these representations are created by sensory systems is a central issue in sensory physiology. This review addresses the history of experimental approaches toward ideas about sensory coding, using the relatively simple auditory system of acoustic insects. I will discuss the empirical evidence in support of Barlow's "efficient coding hypothesis", which argues that the coding properties of neurons undergo specific adaptations that allow insects to detect biologically important acoustic stimuli. This hypothesis opposes the view that the sensory systems of receivers are biased as a result of their phylogeny, which finally determine whether a sound stimulus elicits a behavioural response. Acoustic signals are often transmitted over considerable distances in complex physical environments with high noise levels, resulting in degradation of the temporal pattern of stimuli, unpredictable attenuation, reduced signal-to-noise levels, and degradation of cues used for sound localisation. Thus, a more naturalistic view of sensory coding must be taken, since the signals as broadcast by signallers are rarely equivalent to the effective stimuli encoded by the sensory system of receivers. The consequences of the environmental conditions for sensory coding are discussed.
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Yack JE, Raven BH, Leveillee MB, Naranjo M. What Does an Insect Hear? Reassessing the Role of Hearing in Predator Avoidance with Insights from Vertebrate Prey. Integr Comp Biol 2020; 60:1036-1057. [PMID: 32717080 DOI: 10.1093/icb/icaa097] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Insects have a diversity of hearing organs known to function in a variety of contexts, including reproduction, locating food, and defense. While the role of hearing in predator avoidance has been extensively researched over the past several decades, this research has focused on the detection of one type of predator-echolocating bats. Here we reassess the role of hearing in antipredator defense by considering how insects use their ears to detect and avoid the wide range of predators that consume them. To identify the types of sounds that could be relevant to insect prey, we first review the topic of hearing-mediated predator avoidance in vertebrates. Sounds used by vertebrate prey to assess predation risk include incidental sound cues (e.g., flight sounds, rustling vegetation, and splashing) produced by an approaching predator or another escaping prey, as well as communication signals produced by a predator (e.g., echolocation calls, songs) or nonpredator (e.g., alarm calls). We then review what is known, and what is not known, about such sounds made by the main predators and parasitoids of insects (i.e., birds, bats, terrestrial vertebrates, and invertebrates) and how insects respond to them. Three key insights emerged from our review. First, there is a lack of information on how both vertebrate and insect prey use passive sound cues produced by predators to avoid being captured. Second, while there are numerous examples of vertebrate prey eavesdropping on the calls and songs of predators and nonpredators to assess risk, there are currently no such examples for eared insect prey. Third, the hearing sensitivity of many insects, including those with ears considered to be dedicated to detecting bats or mates, overlaps with both sound cues and signals generated by nonbat predators. Sounds of particular relevance to insect prey include the flight sounds and calls of insectivorous birds, the flight sounds of insect predators and parasitoids, and rustling vegetation sounds of birds and terrestrial predators. We conclude that research on the role of insect hearing in predator avoidance has been disproportionally focused on bat-detection, and that acoustically-mediated responses to other predators may have been overlooked because the responses of prey may be subtle (e.g., ceasing activity, increasing vigilance). We recommend that researchers expand their testing of hearing-mediated risk assessment in insects by considering the wide range of sounds generated by predators, and the varied responses exhibited by prey to these sounds.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jayne E Yack
- Department of Biology, Nesbitt Biology Building, Carleton University, 1125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, ON K1S 5B6, Canada
| | - Brianna H Raven
- Department of Biology, Nesbitt Biology Building, Carleton University, 1125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, ON K1S 5B6, Canada
| | - Michelle B Leveillee
- Department of Biology, Nesbitt Biology Building, Carleton University, 1125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, ON K1S 5B6, Canada
| | - Mairelys Naranjo
- Department of Biology, Nesbitt Biology Building, Carleton University, 1125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, ON K1S 5B6, Canada
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Römer H, Holderied M. Decision making in the face of a deadly predator: high-amplitude behavioural thresholds can be adaptive for rainforest crickets under high background noise levels. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2020; 375:20190471. [PMID: 32420855 PMCID: PMC7331017 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2019.0471] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 12/27/2019] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Many insect families have evolved ears that are adapted to detect ultrasonic calls of bats. The acoustic sensory cues indicating the presence of a bat are then used to initiate bat avoidance behaviours. Background noise, in particular at ultrasonic frequencies, complicates these decisions, since a response to the background may result in costly false alarms. Here, we quantify bat avoidance responses of small rainforest crickets (Gryllidae, Trigoniinae), which live under conditions of high levels of ultrasonic background noise. Their bat avoidance behaviour exhibits markedly higher thresholds than most other studied eared insects. Their responses do not qualitatively differ at suprathreshold amplitudes up to sound pressure levels of 105 dB. Moreover, they also exhibit evasive responses to single, high-frequency events and do not require the repetitive sequence of ultrasonic calls typical for the search phase of bat echolocation calls. Analysis of bat and katydid sound amplitudes and peak frequencies in the crickets' rainforest habitat revealed that the cricket's behavioural threshold would successfully reject the katydid background noise. Using measurements of the crickets' echo target strength for bat predators, we calculated the detection distances for both predators and prey. Despite their high behavioural threshold, the cricket prey still has a significant detection advantage at frequencies between 20 and 40 kHz. The low-amplitude bat calls they ignore are no predation threat because even much louder calls would be detected before the bat would hear the cricket echo. This leaves ample time for evasive actions. Thus, a simple decision criterion based on a high-amplitude behavioural threshold can be adaptive under the high background noise levels in nocturnal rainforests, in avoiding false alarms and only missing detection for bat calls too far away to pose a risk. This article is part of the theme issue 'Signal detection theory in recognition systems: from evolving models to experimental tests'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Heiner Römer
- Department of Biology, Graz University, 8010 Graz, Austria
| | - Marc Holderied
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1TQ, UK
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Someya M, Ogawa H. Multisensory enhancement of burst activity in an insect auditory neuron. J Neurophysiol 2018; 120:139-148. [PMID: 29641303 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00798.2017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Detecting predators is crucial for survival. In insects, a few sensory interneurons receiving sensory input from a distinct receptive organ extract specific features informing the animal about approaching predators and mediate avoidance behaviors. Although integration of multiple sensory cues relevant to the predator enhances sensitivity and precision, it has not been established whether the sensory interneurons that act as predator detectors integrate multiple modalities of sensory inputs elicited by predators. Using intracellular recording techniques, we found that the cricket auditory neuron AN2, which is sensitive to the ultrasound-like echolocation calls of bats, responds to airflow stimuli transduced by the cercal organ, a mechanoreceptor in the abdomen. AN2 enhanced spike outputs in response to cross-modal stimuli combining sound with airflow, and the linearity of the summation of multisensory integration depended on the magnitude of the evoked response. The enhanced AN2 activity contained bursts, triggering avoidance behavior. Moreover, cross-modal stimuli elicited larger and longer lasting excitatory postsynaptic potentials (EPSP) than unimodal stimuli, which would result from a sublinear summation of EPSPs evoked respectively by sound or airflow. The persistence of EPSPs was correlated with the occurrence and structure of burst activity. Our findings indicate that AN2 integrates bimodal signals and that multisensory integration rather than unimodal stimulation alone more reliably generates bursting activity. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Crickets detect ultrasound with their tympanum and airflow with their cercal organ and process them as alert signals of predators. These sensory signals are integrated by auditory neuron AN2 in the early stages of sensory processing. Multisensory inputs from different sensory channels enhanced excitatory postsynaptic potentials to facilitate burst firing, which could trigger avoidance steering in flying crickets. Our results highlight the cellular basis of multisensory integration in AN2 and possible effects on escape behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Makoto Someya
- Graduate School of Life Science, Hokkaido University , Sapporo , Japan
| | - Hiroto Ogawa
- Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, Hokkaido University , Sapporo , Japan
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Insect Vision: Judging Distance with Binocular Motion Disparities. Curr Biol 2018; 28:R148-R150. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2018.01.039] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
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Crickets alter wind-elicited escape strategies depending on acoustic context. Sci Rep 2017; 7:15158. [PMID: 29123249 PMCID: PMC5680309 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-15276-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/07/2017] [Accepted: 10/24/2017] [Indexed: 01/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Acoustic signals trigger various behaviours in insects such as courtship or escape from predators. However, it remains unknown whether insects utilize acoustic signals to recognize environmental contexts. The cricket is a prominent model insect for neuroethological studies on acoustic behaviour because female crickets exhibit positive phonotaxis in response to male calling songs, and flying crickets display avoidance behaviour for high-frequency sounds such as echolocation call of bats. The carrier frequency of these sounds is a major factor in determining whether they initiate these acoustic behaviours. Here, we examined the impacts of different frequencies of tone sounds on cercal-mediated escape behaviour, using a 5-kHz tone corresponding to the calling song and a 15-kHz tone serving as a trigger of avoidance behaviours. Neither frequency elicited a response in the standing cricket by itself, but they had different impacts on walking responses to airflow stimuli. While the 15-kHz tone reduced response probability, extended moving distance, and enhanced turn-angle variability, the 5-kHz tone had no effect. Although both frequencies of tones facilitated walking backward, the 15-kHz tone had a larger effect than the 5-kHz tone. These frequency dependencies of behavioural modulation suggest that crickets can recognize acoustic contexts and alter their escape strategy accordingly.
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Affiliation(s)
- P. A. Lagos
- Department of Biological Sciences Macquarie University North Ryde Sydney NSW Australia
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12
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13
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Abstract
Insect hearing has independently evolved multiple times in the context of intraspecific communication and predator detection by transforming proprioceptive organs into ears. Research over the past decade, ranging from the biophysics of sound reception to molecular aspects of auditory transduction to the neuronal mechanisms of auditory signal processing, has greatly advanced our understanding of how insects hear. Apart from evolutionary innovations that seem unique to insect hearing, parallels between insect and vertebrate auditory systems have been uncovered, and the auditory sensory cells of insects and vertebrates turned out to be evolutionarily related. This review summarizes our current understanding of insect hearing. It also discusses recent advances in insect auditory research, which have put forward insect auditory systems for studying biological aspects that extend beyond hearing, such as cilium function, neuronal signal computation, and sensory system evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martin C Göpfert
- Department of Cellular Neurobiology, University of Göttingen, D-37077 Göttingen, Germany;
| | - R Matthias Hennig
- Department of Biology, Behavioral Physiology, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, D-10115 Berlin, Germany;
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Insect hearing: from physics to ecology. J Comp Physiol A Neuroethol Sens Neural Behav Physiol 2015; 201:1-4. [DOI: 10.1007/s00359-014-0966-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/01/2014] [Revised: 11/10/2014] [Accepted: 11/11/2014] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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