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Alluri RK, Rose GJ, McDowell J, Mukhopadhyay A, Leary CJ, Graham JA, Vasquez-Opazo GA. How auditory neurons count temporal intervals and decode information. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2024; 121:e2404157121. [PMID: 39159380 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2404157121] [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: 02/27/2024] [Accepted: 07/05/2024] [Indexed: 08/21/2024] Open
Abstract
The numerical sense of animals includes identifying the numerosity of a sequence of events that occur with specific intervals, e.g., notes in a call or bar of music. Across nervous systems, the temporal patterning of spikes can code these events, but how this information is decoded (counted) remains elusive. In the anuran auditory system, temporal information of this type is decoded in the midbrain, where "interval-counting" neurons spike only after at least a threshold number of sound pulses have occurred with specific timing. We show that this decoding process, i.e., interval counting, arises from integrating phasic, onset-type and offset inhibition with excitation that augments across successive intervals, possibly due to a progressive decrease in "shunting" effects of inhibition. Because these physiological properties are ubiquitous within and across central nervous systems, interval counting may be a general mechanism for decoding diverse information coded/encoded in temporal patterns of spikes, including "bursts," and estimating elapsed time.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rishi K Alluri
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112
| | - Gary J Rose
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112
| | - Jamie McDowell
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095
| | | | | | - Jalina A Graham
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH 03755
| | - Gustavo A Vasquez-Opazo
- Department of Neurobiology, School of Medicine, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112
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Jung J, Guo M, Crovella ME, McDaniel JG, Warkentin KM. Frog embryos use multiple levels of temporal pattern in risk assessment for vibration-cued escape hatching. Anim Cogn 2022; 25:1527-1544. [PMID: 35668245 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-022-01634-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2022] [Revised: 05/02/2022] [Accepted: 05/06/2022] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
Stereotyped signals can be a fast, effective means of communicating danger, but animals assessing predation risk must often use more variable incidental cues. Red eyed-treefrog, Agalychnis callidryas, embryos hatch prematurely to escape from egg predators, cued by vibrations in attacks, but benign rain generates vibrations with overlapping properties. Facing high false-alarm costs, embryos use multiple vibration properties to inform hatching, including temporal pattern elements such as pulse durations and inter-pulse intervals. However, measures of snake and rain vibration as simple pulse-interval patterns are a poor match to embryo behavior. We used vibration playbacks to assess if embryos use a second level of temporal pattern, long gaps within a rhythmic pattern, as indicators of risks. Long vibration-free periods are common during snake attacks but absent from hard rain. Long gaps after a few initial vibrations increase the hatching response to a subsequent vibration series. Moreover, vibration patterns as short as three pulses, separated by long periods of silence, can induce as much hatching as rhythmic pulse series with five times more vibration. Embryos can retain information that increases hatching over at least 45 s of silence. This work highlights that embryo behavior is contextually modulated in complex ways. Identical vibration pulses, pulse groups, and periods of silence can be treated as risk cues in some contexts and not in others. Embryos employ a multi-faceted decision-making process to effectively distinguish between risk cues and benign stimuli.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julie Jung
- Department of Biology, Boston University, 5 Cummington Mall, Boston, MA, 02215, USA.
| | - Ming Guo
- Department of Biology, Boston University, 5 Cummington Mall, Boston, MA, 02215, USA
| | - Mark E Crovella
- Department of Computer Science, 111 Cummington Mall, Boston, MA, 02215, USA
| | - J Gregory McDaniel
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, 110 Cummington Mall, Boston, MA, 02215, USA
| | - Karen M Warkentin
- Department of Biology, Boston University, 5 Cummington Mall, Boston, MA, 02215, USA.,Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado Postal 0843-03092, Panama, Republic of Panama
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Gupta S, Alluri RK, Rose GJ, Bee MA. Neural basis of acoustic species recognition in a cryptic species complex. J Exp Biol 2021; 224:jeb243405. [PMID: 34796902 PMCID: PMC10658901 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.243405] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/27/2021] [Accepted: 11/12/2021] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Sexual traits that promote species recognition are important drivers of reproductive isolation, especially among closely related species. Identifying neural processes that shape species differences in recognition is crucial for understanding the causal mechanisms of reproductive isolation. Temporal patterns are salient features of sexual signals that are widely used in species recognition by several taxa, including anurans. Recent advances in our understanding of temporal processing by the anuran auditory system provide an opportunity to investigate the neural basis of species-specific recognition. The anuran inferior colliculus consists of neurons that are selective for temporal features of calls. Of potential relevance are auditory neurons known as interval-counting neurons (ICNs) that are often selective for the pulse rate of conspecific advertisement calls. Here, we tested the hypothesis that ICNs mediate acoustic species recognition by exploiting the known differences in temporal selectivity in two cryptic species of gray treefrog (Hyla chrysoscelis and Hyla versicolor). We examined the extent to which the threshold number of pulses required to elicit behavioral responses from females and neural responses from ICNs was similar within each species but potentially different between the two species. In support of our hypothesis, we found that a species difference in behavioral pulse number thresholds closely matched the species difference in neural pulse number thresholds. However, this relationship held only for ICNs that exhibited band-pass tuning for conspecific pulse rates. Together, these findings suggest that differences in temporal processing of a subset of ICNs provide a mechanistic explanation for reproductive isolation between two cryptic treefrog species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Saumya Gupta
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities, St Paul, MN 55126, USA
| | - Rishi K. Alluri
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA
| | - Gary J. Rose
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA
| | - Mark A. Bee
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities, St Paul, MN 55126, USA
- Graduate Program in Neuroscience, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA
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Schwartz JJ, Serratto Del Monte ME. Spatially-mediated call pattern recognition and the cocktail party problem in treefrog choruses: can call frequency differences help during signal overlap? BIOACOUSTICS 2019. [DOI: 10.1080/09524622.2018.1443836] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/17/2022]
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Christie KW, Schul J, Feng AS. Differential effects of sound level and temporal structure of calls on phonotaxis by female gray treefrogs, Hyla versicolor. J Comp Physiol A Neuroethol Sens Neural Behav Physiol 2019; 205:223-238. [PMID: 30927060 DOI: 10.1007/s00359-019-01325-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/25/2017] [Revised: 12/25/2018] [Accepted: 02/28/2019] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
We investigated how communication distance influenced the efficacy of communication by studying the effects of two attributes of male chorus sounds, namely, reduction in sound level and degradation of temporal sound structure, on attraction and accuracy of female phonotaxis in gray treefrogs, Hyla versicolor. For this, we conducted acoustic playback experiments, using synthetic calls and natural calls recorded at increasing distances from a focal male as stimuli. We found that the degradation of temporal structure had a greater effect on signal attractiveness than did the reduction in sound level, and that increasing sound level preferentially affected the attractiveness of proximally recorded calls, with less temporal degradation. Unlike signal attraction, accuracy of female localization increased systematically with the sound level. These results suggest that the degradation of temporal fine structure from both the chorus and signal-environmental effects imposes a limit for effective communication distances for female treefrogs in nature.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kevin W Christie
- Neuroscience Program and Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, 61801, USA. .,Biology Department, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, 52242, USA.
| | - Johannes Schul
- Division of Biological Science, University of Missouri-Columbia, Columbia, MO, 65211, USA
| | - Albert S Feng
- Neuroscience Program and Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, 61801, USA
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Motanis H, Seay MJ, Buonomano DV. Short-Term Synaptic Plasticity as a Mechanism for Sensory Timing. Trends Neurosci 2018; 41:701-711. [PMID: 30274605 DOI: 10.1016/j.tins.2018.08.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/01/2018] [Revised: 07/18/2018] [Accepted: 08/01/2018] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
The ability to detect time intervals and temporal patterns is critical to some of the most fundamental computations the brain performs, including the ability to communicate and appraise a dynamically changing environment. Many of these computations take place on the scale of tens to hundreds of milliseconds. Electrophysiological evidence shows that some neurons respond selectively to duration, interval, rate, or order. Because the time constants of many time-varying neural and synaptic properties, including short-term synaptic plasticity (STP), are also in the range of tens to hundreds of milliseconds, they are strong candidates to underlie the formation of temporally selective neurons. Neurophysiological studies indicate that STP is indeed one of the mechanisms that contributes to temporal selectivity, and computational models demonstrate that neurons embedded in local microcircuits exhibit temporal selectivity if their synapses undergo STP. Converging evidence suggests that some forms of temporal selectivity emerge from the dynamic changes in the balance of excitation and inhibition imposed by STP.
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Affiliation(s)
- Helen Motanis
- Integrative Center for Learning & Memory, Departments of Neurobiology and Psychology, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA; These authors contributed equally to the paper
| | - Michael J Seay
- Integrative Center for Learning & Memory, Departments of Neurobiology and Psychology, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA; These authors contributed equally to the paper
| | - Dean V Buonomano
- Integrative Center for Learning & Memory, Departments of Neurobiology and Psychology, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
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Rose GJ. The numerical abilities of anurans and their neural correlates: insights from neuroethological studies of acoustic communication. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2018; 373:rstb.2016.0512. [PMID: 29292359 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2016.0512] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 08/15/2017] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Acoustic communication is important in the reproductive behaviour of anurans. The acoustic repertoire of most species consists of several call types, but some anurans gradually increase the complexity of their calls during aggressive interactions between males and when approached by females. In these interactions, males may closely match the number of calls or notes in a sequence that a neighbour produces, thereby revealing their numerical abilities. Anurans are also able to discern the number of sequential properly timed pulses (notes). The temporal intervals between successive pulses provide information about species identity and call type. A neural correlate of this numerical ability is evident in the responses of 'interval-counting' neurons, which show 'tuning' for intermediate to fast pulse rates and respond only after at least a threshold number of pulses have occurred with the correct timing. A single interpulse interval that is two to three times the optimal value can reset this interval-counting process. Whole-cell recordings from midbrain neurons, in vivo, have revealed that complex interplay between activity-dependent excitation and inhibition contributes to this counting process. Single pulses primarily elicit inhibition. As additional pulses are presented with optimal intervals, cells become progressively depolarized and spike after a threshold number of intervals have occurred.This article is part of a discussion meeting issue 'The origins of numerical abilities'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gary J Rose
- Department of Biology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA
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Reichert MS, Höbel G. Frequency channel-dependent selectivity for temporal call characteristics in gray treefrogs, Hyla versicolor. J Exp Biol 2017; 220:1256-1266. [PMID: 28104800 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.152330] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2016] [Accepted: 01/11/2017] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Sensory receptors transmit information on multiple stimulus dimensions. Much remains to be understood about how the processing of different signal characteristics is partitioned and integrated in different areas of the nervous system. Amphibian hearing involves two morphologically distinct inner-ear organs that process different components of the frequency spectrum. Many anuran signals contain two frequency peaks, each one matching the sensitivity of one of these two organs. We hypothesized that the processing of temporal characteristics of acoustic signals would differ in these two frequency channels, perhaps because of differences in the response properties of the two inner-ear organs. We tested this hypothesis in the gray treefrog, Hyla versicolor; male advertisement calls of this species contain a bimodal frequency spectrum. We generated synthetic male advertisement calls in which we independently manipulated the pattern of amplitude modulation in the low-frequency peak or the high-frequency peak and measured the attractiveness of these stimuli to females in single-speaker and two-speaker phonotaxis tests. We obtained multiple lines of evidence that females were more selective for fine-temporal characteristics in the high-frequency peak. We discuss the potential implications of frequency channel-dependent temporal processing for signal evolution and suggest that additional neurophysiological investigations of the anuran auditory periphery will give important insights into how the nervous system partitions the encoding of multiple characteristics of complex signals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael S Reichert
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Wisconsin, 3209 N. Maryland Avenue, Milwaukee, WI 53201, USA
| | - Gerlinde Höbel
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Wisconsin, 3209 N. Maryland Avenue, Milwaukee, WI 53201, USA
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Schwartz JJ, Hossain R. Is it one call or two? Perception of inter-pulse and inter-call intervals in the grey treefrog, Hyla versicolor. BEHAVIOUR 2017. [DOI: 10.1163/1568539x-00003424] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Female grey treefrogs, Hyla versicolor, treat a call with an anomalously large gap between call pulses as relatively unattractive. However, whether such a ‘call’ is treated (or perhaps perceived) as a single call or two separate calls, an issue relevant to the problem of perceptual segregation of calls of different males, was unclear. We tested whether there could be gaps shorter than a typical inter-call interval that would be sufficient to elicit the latter percept by offering females a choice between a 5-pulse call and 13-pulse call separated by a 1575-ms gap and these pulse strings separated by shorter gaps. Preliminary results suggested that perception of inter-call gaps was categorical, and the distributions of such gaps between males in choruses were compatible with this finding. However, when we also offered females call alternatives designed to specifically test the hypothesis of categorical perception, predictions were only sometimes met.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joshua J. Schwartz
- Department of Biology and Health Sciences, Pace University, Pleasantville, NY 10570, USA
| | - Ridwan Hossain
- Department of Biology and Health Sciences, Pace University, Pleasantville, NY 10570, USA
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Schwartz JJ, Hunce R, Lentine B, Powers K. Calling site choice and its impact on call degradation and call attractiveness in the gray treefrog, Hyla versicolor. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2015. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-015-2016-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
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Species-specificity of temporal processing in the auditory midbrain of gray treefrogs: interval-counting neurons. J Comp Physiol A Neuroethol Sens Neural Behav Physiol 2015; 201:485-503. [DOI: 10.1007/s00359-015-0997-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2014] [Revised: 02/26/2015] [Accepted: 02/27/2015] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
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Abstract
Temporal computations are important in the acoustic communication of anurans. In many cases, calls between closely related species are nearly identical spectrally but differ markedly in temporal structure. Depending on the species, calls can differ in pulse duration, shape and/or rate (i.e., amplitude modulation), direction and rate of frequency modulation, and overall call duration. Also, behavioral studies have shown that anurans are able to discriminate between calls that differ in temporal structure. In the peripheral auditory system, temporal information is coded primarily in the spatiotemporal patterns of activity of auditory-nerve fibers. However, major transformations in the representation of temporal information occur in the central auditory system. In this review I summarize recent advances in understanding how temporal information is represented in the anuran midbrain, with particular emphasis on mechanisms that underlie selectivity for pulse duration and pulse rate (i.e., intervals between onsets of successive pulses). Two types of neurons have been identified that show selectivity for pulse rate: long-interval cells respond well to slow pulse rates but fail to spike or respond phasically to fast pulse rates; conversely, interval-counting neurons respond to intermediate or fast pulse rates, but only after a threshold number of pulses, presented at optimal intervals, have occurred. Duration-selectivity is manifest as short-pass, band-pass or long-pass tuning. Whole-cell patch recordings, in vivo, suggest that excitation and inhibition are integrated in diverse ways to generate temporal selectivity. In many cases, activity-related enhancement or depression of excitatory or inhibitory processes appear to contribute to selective responses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gary J Rose
- Department of Biology, University of Utah Salt Lake City, UT, USA
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14
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An Investigation of the Functional Significance of Responses of the Gray Treefrog (Hyla versicolor) to Chorus Noise. J HERPETOL 2013. [DOI: 10.1670/12-027] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
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Affiliation(s)
- G. M. Cunnington
- Geomatics and Landscape Ecology Research Laboratory, Department of Biology; Carleton University; Ottawa; ON; Canada
| | - L. Fahrig
- Geomatics and Landscape Ecology Research Laboratory, Department of Biology; Carleton University; Ottawa; ON; Canada
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Vélez A, Bee MA. Dip listening and the cocktail party problem in grey treefrogs: Signal recognition in temporally fluctuating noise. Anim Behav 2011; 82:1319-1327. [PMID: 22389519 DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2011.09.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 55] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Dip listening refers to our ability to catch brief "acoustic glimpses" of speech and other sounds when fluctuating background noise levels momentarily decrease. Exploiting dips in natural fluctuations of noise contributes to our ability to overcome the "cocktail party problem" of understanding speech in multi-talker social environments. We presently know little about how nonhuman animals solve analogous communication problems. Here, we asked whether female grey treefrogs (Hyla chrysoscelis) might benefit from dip listening in selecting a mate in the noisy social setting of a breeding chorus. Consistent with a dip listening hypothesis, subjects recognized conspecific calls at lower thresholds when the dips in a chorus-like noise masker were long enough to allow glimpses of nine or more consecutive pulses. No benefits of dip listening were observed when dips were shorter and included five or fewer pulses. Recognition thresholds were higher when the noise fluctuated at a rate similar to the pulse rate of the call. In a second experiment, advertisement calls comprising six to nine pulses were necessary to elicit responses under quiet conditions. Together, these results suggest that in frogs, the benefits of dip listening are constrained by neural mechanisms underlying temporal pattern recognition. These constraints have important implications for the evolution of male signalling strategies in noisy social environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alejandro Vélez
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, University of Minnesota, 100 Ecology, 1987, Upper Buford Circle, St. Paul, MN 55108
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Interval-counting neurons in the anuran auditory midbrain: factors underlying diversity of interval tuning. J Comp Physiol A Neuroethol Sens Neural Behav Physiol 2010; 197:97-108. [PMID: 20931335 DOI: 10.1007/s00359-010-0591-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/18/2010] [Revised: 09/17/2010] [Accepted: 09/21/2010] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Abstract
In anurans, the temporal patterning of sound pulses is the primary information used for differentiating between spectrally similar calls. One class of midbrain neurons, referred to as 'interval-counting' cells, appears to be particularly important for discriminating among calls that differ in pulse repetition rate (PRR). These cells only respond after several pulses are presented with appropriate interpulse intervals. Here we show that the range of selectivity and sharpness of interval tuning vary considerably across neurons. Whole-cell recordings revealed that neurons showing temporally summating excitatory postsynaptic potentials (EPSPs) with little or no inhibition or activity-dependent enhancement of excitation exhibited low-pass or band-pass tuning to slow PRRs. Neurons that showed inhibition and rate-dependent enhancement of excitation, however, were band-pass or high-pass to intermediate or fast PRRs. Surprisingly, across cells, interval tuning based on membrane depolarization and spike rate measures were not significantly correlated. Neurons that lacked inhibition showed the greatest disparities between these two measures of interval tuning. Cells that showed broad membrane potential-based tuning, for example, varied considerably in their spike rate-based tuning; narrow spike rate-based tuning resulted from 'thresholding' processes, whereby only the largest depolarizations triggered spikes. The potential constraints associated with generating interval tuning in this manner are discussed.
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