Preference of spectral features in auditory processing for advertisement calls in the music frogs

Possible Event-Related Potential Correlates of Voluntary Attention and Reflexive Attention in the Emei Music Frog

Simple Summary

We investigated auditory event-related potentials (ERP) related to auditory attention in music frogs. Our objective was to explore whether ERP components related to voluntary attention and reflexive attention exist in frogs. We found that the amplitudes of stimulus preceding negativity (SPN, related to voluntary attention and under up-down control) evoked by silence replacement in the telencephalon were the largest when the sequence of acoustic stimuli could be predicted, while the N1 amplitudes (related to reflexive attention and under bottom-up control) evoked in the mesencephalon were the largest when the sequence of acoustic stimuli could not be predicted. This suggests that human-like ERP components related to voluntary attention and reflexive attention exist in the lower vertebrates also.

Abstract

Attention, referring to selective processing of task-related information, is central to cognition. It has been proposed that voluntary attention (driven by current goals or tasks and under top-down control) and reflexive attention (driven by stimulus salience and under bottom-up control) struggle to control the focus of attention with interaction in a push–pull fashion for everyday perception in higher vertebrates. However, how auditory attention engages in auditory perception in lower vertebrates remains unclear. In this study, each component of auditory event-related potentials (ERP) related to attention was measured for the telencephalon, diencephalon and mesencephalon in the Emei music frog (Nidirana daunchina), during the broadcasting of acoustic stimuli invoking voluntary attention (using binary playback paradigm with silence replacement) and reflexive attention (using equiprobably random playback paradigm), respectively. Results showed that (1) when the sequence of acoustic stimuli could be predicted, the amplitudes of stimulus preceding negativity (SPN) evoked by silence replacement in the forebrain were significantly greater than that in the mesencephalon, suggesting voluntary attention may engage in auditory perception in this species because of the correlation between the SPN component and top-down control such as expectation and/or prediction; (2) alternately, when the sequence of acoustic stimuli could not be predicted, the N1 amplitudes evoked in the mesencephalon were significantly greater than those in other brain areas, implying that reflexive attention may be involved in auditory signal processing because the N1 components relate to selective attention; and (3) both SPN and N1 components could be evoked by the predicted stimuli, suggesting auditory perception of the music frogs might invoke the two kind of attention resources simultaneously. The present results show that human-like ERP components related to voluntary attention and reflexive attention exist in the lower vertebrates also.

Neural activities in music frogs reveal call variations and phylogenetic relationships within the genus Nidirana

The characteristics of acoustic signals co-evolve with preferences of the auditory sensory system. However, how the brain perceives call variations and whether it can reveal phylogenetic relationships among signalers remains poorly understood. Here, we recorded the neural signals from the Emei music frogs (Nidirana daunchina) in response to broadcasted calls of five different species of the same genus. We found that responses in terms of the different amplitudes of various event-related potential (ERP) components were correlated with diversification trends in acoustic signals, as well as phylogenetic relationships between N. daunchina and heterospecific callers. Specifically, P2 decreased gradually along the ordinal decline of similarities in acoustic characteristics of calls compared with those from conspecifics. Moreover, P3a amplitudes showed increasing trends in correspondence with callers’ genetic distances from the subject species. These observations collectively support the view that neural activities in music frogs can reflect call variations and phylogenetic relationships within the genus Nidirana.

Music frogs have species-specific neural responses to calls of different species of genus Nidirana.

Hierarchical auditory perception for species discrimination and individual recognition in the music frog

The ability to discriminate species and recognize individuals is crucial for reproductive success and/or survival in most animals. However, the temporal order and neural localization of these decision-making processes has remained unclear. In this study, event-related potentials (ERPs) were measured in the telencephalon, diencephalon, and mesencephalon of the music frog Nidirana daunchina. These ERPs were elicited by calls from 1 group of heterospecifics (recorded from a sympatric anuran species) and 2 groups of conspecifics that differed in their fundamental frequencies. In terms of the polarity and position within the ERP waveform, auditory ERPs generally consist of 4 main components that link to selective attention (N1), stimulus evaluation (P2), identification (N2), and classification (P3). These occur around 100, 200, 250, and 300 ms after stimulus onset, respectively. Our results show that the N1 amplitudes differed significantly between the heterospecific and conspecific calls, but not between the 2 groups of conspecific calls that differed in fundamental frequency. On the other hand, the N2 amplitudes were significantly different between the 2 groups of conspecific calls, suggesting that the music frogs discriminated the species first, followed by individual identification, since N1 and N2 relate to selective attention and stimuli identification, respectively. Moreover, the P2 amplitudes evoked in females were significantly greater than those in males, indicating the existence of sexual dimorphism in auditory discrimination. In addition, both the N1 amplitudes in the left diencephalon and the P2 amplitudes in the left telencephalon were greater than in other brain areas, suggesting left hemispheric dominance in auditory perception. Taken together, our results support the hypothesis that species discrimination and identification of individual characteristics are accomplished sequentially, and that auditory perception exhibits differences between sexes and in spatial dominance.

Silence is sexy: soundscape complexity alters mate choice in túngara frogs

Many animals acoustically communicate in large aggregations, producing biotic soundscapes. In turn, these natural soundscapes can influence the efficacy of animal communication, yet little is known about how variation in soundscape interferes with animals that communicate acoustically. We quantified this variation by analyzing natural soundscapes with the mid-frequency cover index and by measuring the frequency ranges and call rates of the most common acoustically communicating species. We then tested female mate choice in the túngara frog (Physalaemus pustulosus) in varying types of background chorus noise. We broadcast two natural túngara frog calls as a stimulus and altered the densities (duty cycles) of natural calls from conspecifics and heterospecifics to form the different types of chorus noise. During both conspecific and heterospecific chorus noise treatments, females demonstrated similar preferences for advertisement calls at low and mid noise densities but failed to express a preference in the presence of high noise density. Our data also suggest that nights with high densities of chorus noise from conspecifics and heterospecifics are common in some breeding ponds, and on nights with high noise density, the soundscape plays an important role diminishing the accuracy of female decision-making.

Low-frequency electroencephalogram oscillations govern left-eye lateralization during anti-predatory responses in the music frog

Visual lateralization is widespread for prey and anti-predation in numerous taxa. However, it is still unknown how the brain governs this asymmetry. In this study, we conducted behavioral and electrophysiological experiments to evaluate anti-predatory behaviors and dynamic brain activities in Emei music frogs (Nidirana daunchina), to explore the potential eye bias for anti-predation and the underlying neural mechanisms. To do this, predator stimuli (a model snake head and a leaf as a control) were moved around the subjects in clockwise and anti-clockwise directions at steady velocity. We counted the number of anti-predatory responses and measured electroencephalogram (EEG) power spectra for each band and brain area (telencephalon, diencephalon and mesencephalon). Our results showed that (1) no significant eye preferences could be found for the control (leaf); however, the laterality index was significantly lower than zero when the predator stimulus was moved anti-clockwise, suggesting that left-eye advantage exists in this species for anti-predation; (2) compared with no stimulus in the visual field, the power spectra of delta and alpha bands were significantly greater when the predator stimulus was moved into the left visual field anti-clockwise; and, (3) generally, the power spectra of each band in the right-hemisphere for the left visual field were higher than those in the left counterpart. These results support that the left eye mediates the monitoring of a predator in music frogs and lower-frequency EEG oscillations govern this visual lateralization.

Sex differences in vocalization are reflected by event-related potential components in the music frog

Sex differences in vocalization have been commonly found in vocal animals. It remains unclear, however, how animals perceive and discriminate these differences. The amplitudes and latencies of event-related potentials (ERP) components can reflect the auditory processing efficiency and time course. We investigated the neural mechanisms of auditory processing in the Emei music frog (Nidirana daunchina) using an Oddball paradigm with ERP. We recorded and analyzed eletroencephalogram (EEG) signals from the forebrain and midbrain when the subjects listened to white noise (WN) and conspecific sex-specific vocalizations. We found that (1) both amplitudes and latencies of some ERP components evoked by conspecific calls were significantly higher than those by WN, suggesting the music frogs can discriminate conspecific vocalizations from background noise; (2) both amplitudes and latencies of most ERP components evoked by female calls were significantly higher or longer than those by male calls, implying that the ERP components can reflect sex differences in vocalization; and (3) there were significant differences in ERP amplitudes between male and female subjects, suggesting a sexual dimorphism in auditory perception. Together, the present results indicate that the music frog could discriminate conspecific calls from noise, male's calls from female's ones, and sexual dimorphism of auditory perception existed in this species.

Dynamics of electroencephalogram oscillations underlie right-eye preferences in predatory behavior of the music frog

Visual lateralization is a typical characteristic of many vertebrates; however, its underlying dynamic neural mechanism is unclear. In this study, predatory responses and dynamic brain activities were evaluated in the Emei music frog (Nidirana daunchina) to assess the potential eye preferences and their underlying dynamic neural mechanism, using behavioral and electrophysiological experiments, respectively. To do this, when the prey stimulus (live cricket and leaf as control) was moved around the frogs in both clockwise and anticlockwise directions at constant velocity, the number of predatory responses were counted and electroencephalogram (EEG) absolute power spectra for each band were measured for the telencephalon, diencephalon and mesencephalon. The results showed that: (1) no significant differences in the number of predatory responses could be found for the control (leaf), but the number of predatory responses for the right visual field (RVF) was significantly greater than that for the left visual field (LVF) when the live cricket was moved into the RVF clockwise; (2) compared with no stimulus in the visual field and stimulus in the LVF, the power spectra of each EEG band were greater when the prey stimulus was moved into the RVF clockwise; and (3) the power spectra of the theta, alpha and beta bands in the left diencephalon were significantly greater than those of the right counterpart for the clockwise direction, but similar significant differences presented for the delta, theta and alpha bands in the anticlockwise direction. Together, the results suggested that right-eye preferences for predatory behaviors exist in music frogs, and that the dynamics of EEG oscillations might underlie this right eye/left hemisphere advantage.