1
|
Patel M, Kulkarni N, Lei HH, Lai K, Nematova O, Wei K, Lei H. Experimental and theoretical probe on mechano- and chemosensory integration in the insect antennal lobe. Front Physiol 2022; 13:1004124. [PMID: 36406994 PMCID: PMC9667105 DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2022.1004124] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2022] [Accepted: 10/19/2022] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
In nature, olfactory signals are delivered to detectors—for example, insect antennae—by means of turbulent air, which exerts concurrent chemical and mechanical stimulation on the detectors. The antennal lobe, which is traditionally viewed as a chemosensory module, sits downstream of antennal inputs. We review experimental evidence showing that, in addition to being a chemosensory structure, antennal lobe neurons also respond to mechanosensory input in the form of wind speed. Benchmarked with empirical data, we constructed a dynamical model to simulate bimodal integration in the antennal lobe, with model dynamics yielding insights such as a positive correlation between the strength of mechanical input and the capacity to follow high frequency odor pulses, an important task in tracking odor sources. Furthermore, we combine experimental and theoretical results to develop a conceptual framework for viewing the functional significance of sensory integration within the antennal lobe. We formulate the testable hypothesis that the antennal lobe alternates between two distinct dynamical regimes, one which benefits odor plume tracking and one which promotes odor discrimination. We postulate that the strength of mechanical input, which correlates with behavioral contexts such being mid-flight versus hovering near a flower, triggers the transition from one regime to the other.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Mainak Patel
- Department of Mathematics, William and Mary College, Williamsburg, VA, United States
| | - Nisha Kulkarni
- School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, United States
| | - Harry H. Lei
- School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, United States
| | - Kaitlyn Lai
- School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, United States
| | - Omina Nematova
- School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, United States
| | - Katherine Wei
- School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, United States
| | - Hong Lei
- School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, United States
- *Correspondence: Hong Lei,
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Pheromone binding protein is involved in temporal olfactory resolution in the silkmoth. iScience 2021; 24:103334. [PMID: 34805794 PMCID: PMC8586810 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2021.103334] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/08/2021] [Revised: 10/04/2021] [Accepted: 10/20/2021] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Male moths utilize spatio-temporal female sex pheromone information to orient toward conspecific females. Pheromones are distributed as discontinuous plumes owing to air turbulence; thus, efficient tracking of intermittent stimuli is expected to require a high temporal resolution. Here, using pheromone binding protein (BmPBP1)-knockout silkmoths, we showed that a loss of functional PBP lowered the temporal sensory resolution of male antennae. This altered temporal resolution resulted in significantly reduced straight walking and longer turning behavior, which respectively occurred when males detected and lost contact with pheromones, indicating that temporal resolution was also lowered at the behavioral level. BmPBP1-knockout males required significantly longer time than wild-type males in locating pheromone sources and female moths. Our results suggest that BmPBP1 plays a critical role in determining olfactory response kinetics. Accordingly, high temporal olfactory and behavioral resolutions, as shaped by PBP, are essential for tracking pheromone plumes and locating females efficiently.
Collapse
|
3
|
Abstract
Flying insects track turbulent odor plumes to find mates, food and egg-laying sites. To maintain contact with the plume, insects are thought to adapt their flight control according to the distribution of odor in the plume using the timing of odor onsets and intervals between odor encounters. Although timing cues are important, few studies have addressed whether insects are capable of deriving spatial information about odor distribution from bilateral comparisons between their antennae in flight. The proboscis extension reflex (PER) associative learning protocol, originally developed to study odor learning in honeybees, was used as a tool to ask if hawkmoths, Manduca sexta, can discriminate between odor stimuli arriving on either antenna. We show moths discriminated the odor arrival side with an accuracy of >70%. Information about spatial distribution of odor stimuli may be available to moths searching for odor sources, opening the possibility that they use both spatial and temporal odor information.This article has an associated First Person interview with the first author of the paper.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - M A Willis
- Department of Biology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106-7080, U.S.A
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Ando N, Kanzaki R. Insect-machine hybrid robot. CURRENT OPINION IN INSECT SCIENCE 2020; 42:61-69. [PMID: 32992040 DOI: 10.1016/j.cois.2020.09.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/05/2020] [Revised: 09/12/2020] [Accepted: 09/16/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Recently, insect-machine hybrid robots have been developed that incorporate insects into robots or incorporate machines into insects. Most previous studies were motivated to use the function of insects for robots, but this technology can also prove to be useful as an experimental tool for neuroethology. We reviewed hybrid robots in terms of the closed-loop between an insect, a robot, and the real environment. The incorporated biological components provided the robot sensory signals that were received by the insects and the adaptive functions of the brain. The incorporated artificial components permitted us to understand the biological system by controlling insect behavior. Hybrid robots thus extend the roles of mobile robot experiments in neuroethology for both model evaluation and brain function analysis.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Noriyasu Ando
- Department of Systems Life Engineering, Maebashi Institute of Technology, 460-1, Kamisadori-cho, Maebashi, Gunma 371-0816, Japan.
| | - Ryohei Kanzaki
- Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, The University of Tokyo, 4-6-1 Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 153-8904, Japan
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Tuckman H, Kim J, Rangan A, Lei H, Patel M. Dynamics of sensory integration of olfactory and mechanical stimuli within the response patterns of moth antennal lobe neurons. J Theor Biol 2020; 509:110510. [PMID: 33022286 DOI: 10.1016/j.jtbi.2020.110510] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/18/2020] [Revised: 09/22/2020] [Accepted: 09/27/2020] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Odors emanating from a biologically relevant source are rapidly embedded within a windy, turbuluent medium that folds and spins filaments into fragmented strands of varying sizes. Environmental odor plumes therefore exhibit complex spatiotemporal dynamics, and rarely yield an easily discernible concentration gradient marking an unambiguous trail to an odor source. Thus, sensory integration of chemical input, encoding odor identity or concentration, and mechanosensory input, encoding wind speed, is a critical task that animals face in resolving the complex dynamics of odor plumes and tracking an odor source. In insects, who employ olfactory navigation as their primary means of foraging for food and finding mates, the antennal lobe (AL) is the first brain structure that processes sensory odor information. Although the importance of chemosensory and mechanosensory integration is widely recognized, the AL itself has traditionally been viewed purely from the perspective of odor encoding, with little attention given to its role as a bimodal integrator. In this work, we seek to explore the AL as a model for studying sensory integration - it boasts well-understood architecture, well-studied olfactory responses, and easily measurable cells. Using a moth model, we present experimental data that clearly demonstrates that AL neurons respond, in dynamically distinct ways, to both chemosensory and mechanosensory input; mechanosensory responses are transient and temporally precise, while olfactory responses are long-lasting but lack temporal precision. We further develop a computational model of the AL, show that our model captures odor response dynamics reported in the literature, and examine the dynamics of our model with the inclusion of mechanosensory input; we then use our model to pinpoint dynamical mechanisms underlying the bimodal AL responses revealed in our experimental work. Finally, we propose a novel hypothesis about the role of mechanosensory input in sculpting AL dynamics and the implications for biological odor tracking.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Harrison Tuckman
- Department of Mathematics, William & Mary Williamsburg, VA 23187, USA
| | - Jungmin Kim
- Department of Pharmacology, University of Colorado Denver, Aurora, CO 80045, USA
| | - Aaditya Rangan
- Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, New York University, New York, NY 10012, USA
| | - Hong Lei
- School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85281, USA
| | - Mainak Patel
- Department of Mathematics, William & Mary Williamsburg, VA 23187, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Steinbeck F, Adden A, Graham P. Connecting brain to behaviour: a role for general purpose steering circuits in insect orientation? J Exp Biol 2020; 223:223/5/jeb212332. [DOI: 10.1242/jeb.212332] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
ABSTRACT
The lateral accessory lobes (LALs), paired structures that are homologous among all insect species, have been well studied for their role in pheromone tracking in silkmoths and phonotaxis in crickets, where their outputs have been shown to correlate with observed motor activity. Further studies have shown more generally that the LALs are crucial both for an insect's ability to steer correctly and for organising the outputs of the descending pathways towards the motor centres. In this context, we propose a framework by which the LALs may be generally involved in generating steering commands across a variety of insects and behaviours. Across different behaviours, we see that the LAL is involved in generating two kinds of steering: (1) search behaviours and (2) targeted steering driven by direct sensory information. Search behaviours are generated when the current behaviourally relevant cues are not available, and a well-described LAL subnetwork produces activity which increases sampling of the environment. We propose that, when behaviourally relevant cues are available, the LALs may integrate orientation information from several sensory modalities, thus leading to a collective output for steering driven by those cues. These steering commands are then sent to the motor centres, and an additional efference copy is sent back to the orientation-computing areas. In summary, we have taken known aspects of the neurophysiology and function of the insect LALs and generated a speculative framework that suggests how LALs might be involved in steering control for a variety of complex real-world behaviours in insects.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Fabian Steinbeck
- School of Life Sciences, University of Sussex, Brighton BN1 9QG, UK
| | - Andrea Adden
- Department of Biology, Lund University, 223 62 Lund, Sweden
| | - Paul Graham
- School of Life Sciences, University of Sussex, Brighton BN1 9QG, UK
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
Lan B, Kanzaki R, Ando N. Dropping Counter: A Detection Algorithm for Identifying Odour-Evoked Responses from Noisy Electroantennograms Measured by a Flying Robot. SENSORS 2019; 19:s19204574. [PMID: 31640187 PMCID: PMC6832354 DOI: 10.3390/s19204574] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/28/2019] [Revised: 10/12/2019] [Accepted: 10/18/2019] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
The electroantennogram (EAG) is a technique used for measuring electrical signals from the antenna of an insect. Its rapid response time, quick recovery speed, and high sensitivity make it suitable for odour-tracking tasks employing mobile robots. However, its application to flying robots has not been extensively studied owing to the electrical and mechanical noises generated. In this study, we investigated the characteristics of the EAG mounted on a tethered flying quadcopter and developed a special counter-based algorithm for detecting the odour-generated responses. As the EAG response is negative, the algorithm creates a window and compares the values inside it. Once a value is smaller than the first one, the counter will increase by one and finally turns the whole signal into a clearer odour stimulated result. By experimental evaluation, the new algorithm gives a higher cross-correlation coefficient when compared with the fixed-threshold method. The result shows that the accuracy of this novel algorithm for recognising odour-evoked EAG signals from noise exceeds that of the traditional method; furthermore, the use of insect antennae as odour sensors for flying robots is demonstrated to be feasible.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Bluest Lan
- Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, The University of Tokyo, 4-6-1 Meguro-ku, Komaba, Tokyo 153-8904, Japan.
| | - Ryohei Kanzaki
- Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, The University of Tokyo, 4-6-1 Meguro-ku, Komaba, Tokyo 153-8904, Japan.
| | - Noriyasu Ando
- Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, The University of Tokyo, 4-6-1 Meguro-ku, Komaba, Tokyo 153-8904, Japan.
- Department of Systems Life Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Maebashi Institute of Technology, 460-1 Kamisadori-cho, Maebashi, Gunma 371-0816, Japan.
| |
Collapse
|
8
|
Ando N, Kanzaki R. Using insects to drive mobile robots - hybrid robots bridge the gap between biological and artificial systems. ARTHROPOD STRUCTURE & DEVELOPMENT 2017; 46:723-735. [PMID: 28254451 DOI: 10.1016/j.asd.2017.02.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2016] [Revised: 02/21/2017] [Accepted: 02/21/2017] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
The use of mobile robots is an effective method of validating sensory-motor models of animals in a real environment. The well-identified insect sensory-motor systems have been the major targets for modeling. Furthermore, mobile robots implemented with such insect models attract engineers who aim to avail advantages from organisms. However, directly comparing the robots with real insects is still difficult, even if we successfully model the biological systems, because of the physical differences between them. We developed a hybrid robot to bridge the gap. This hybrid robot is an insect-controlled robot, in which a tethered male silkmoth (Bombyx mori) drives the robot in order to localize an odor source. This robot has the following three advantages: 1) from a biomimetic perspective, the robot enables us to evaluate the potential performance of future insect-mimetic robots; 2) from a biological perspective, the robot enables us to manipulate the closed-loop of an onboard insect for further understanding of its sensory-motor system; and 3) the robot enables comparison with insect models as a reference biological system. In this paper, we review the recent works regarding insect-controlled robots and discuss the significance for both engineering and biology.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Noriyasu Ando
- Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, The University of Tokyo, 4-6-1 Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 153-8904, Japan.
| | - Ryohei Kanzaki
- Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, The University of Tokyo, 4-6-1 Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 153-8904, Japan
| |
Collapse
|
9
|
Ando N, Emoto S, Kanzaki R. Insect-controlled Robot: A Mobile Robot Platform to Evaluate the Odor-tracking Capability of an Insect. J Vis Exp 2016. [PMID: 28060258 DOI: 10.3791/54802] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/30/2023] Open
Abstract
Robotic odor source localization has been a challenging area and one to which biological knowledge has been expected to contribute, as finding odor sources is an essential task for organism survival. Insects are well-studied organisms with regard to odor tracking, and their behavioral strategies have been applied to mobile robots for evaluation. This "bottom-up" approach is a fundamental way to develop biomimetic robots; however, the biological analyses and the modeling of behavioral mechanisms are still ongoing. Therefore, it is still unknown how such a biological system actually works as the controller of a robotic platform. To answer this question, we have developed an insect-controlled robot in which a male adult silkmoth (Bombyx mori) drives a robot car in response to odor stimuli; this can be regarded as a prototype of a future insect-mimetic robot. In the cockpit of the robot, a tethered silkmoth walked on an air-supported ball and an optical sensor measured the ball rotations. These rotations were translated into the movement of the two-wheeled robot. The advantage of this "hybrid" approach is that experimenters can manipulate any parameter of the robot, which enables the evaluation of the odor-tracking capability of insects and provides useful suggestions for robotic odor-tracking. Furthermore, these manipulations are non-invasive ways to alter the sensory-motor relationship of a pilot insect and will be a useful technique for understanding adaptive behaviors.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Noriyasu Ando
- Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, The University of Tokyo;
| | - Shuhei Emoto
- Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, The University of Tokyo
| | - Ryohei Kanzaki
- Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, The University of Tokyo
| |
Collapse
|