Noise filtering in the auditory system of Locusta migratoria L

Abstract

Many acoustically communicating grasshoppers live in crowded populations where sound of many individuals may cause permanent noise. Tympanic receptors and first-order auditory interneurons of Locusta migratoria code such noise tonically, whereas many higher order interneurons react only weakly. In response to simultaneously presented sound they exhibit a better signal-to-noise ratio than their presynaptic elements. Two possible filter mechanisms are suggested for noise reduction in higher-order interneurons: (i) high-pass filtering of receptor spike frequencies and (ii) filtering due to synchronization of receptor spikes. Different receptor spike frequencies were elicited by series of short noise pulses with variable repetition rates. Receptor activities differing in their degree of synchronization were elicited by sound stimuli with variable rising times. In contrast to the first order interneurons some higher order interneurons responded best to receptor spike frequencies above 150–200 Hz, thus showing the postulated filtering. Only one higher order interneuron (AN4) distinguished between synchronous and asynchronous receptor activities. It is suggested that high-pass filtering of receptor spike frequencies is responsible for the noise filtering observed in these interneurons. The synchronization selectivity of AN4 is proposed to be responsible for temporal pattern detection of conspecific sounds.