P-24 Correlating a Behavioral and Neuronal Response in an Insect Model

Phonotaxis in female cricket Acheta domesticus can be selective or unselective in response to model calls with varying syllable periods. Discriminating a call and walking towards it implies that networks of neurons are activated when the call is recognized as attractive. Several approaches to demonstrate the influential role of auditory neurons in phonotaxis have been used with different levels of success. The current study seeks to evaluate the behavioral and neuronal responses in the same animal, using identical auditory stimuli. This approach allows us to establish a correlation between the neuronal and behavioral responses, and to predict the behavior of the animal based on the response of an auditory neuron. Several auditory neurons in this model have been identified and proposed to play an influential role in phonotaxis. The L3 prothoracic auditory neuron has been proposed to influence selective phonotaxis in this species. In response to calls with attractive syllable periods, the L3 produces a burst of action potentials, which diminish in response to consecutive syllables. Such a decrease is calculated as percentage and is called decrement. Preliminary results suggest syllable periods which produce positive phonotaxis, also elicit higher decrement values in the neuronal response of the same animal. In the lab, 5-10 day-old virgin females are more likely to respond phonotactically to calls with syllable periods ranging between 50 and 70 ms. Females older than 20 days, exhibit more variability in the range and number of syllable periods they respond to, which may or may not overlap with the range indicated for young ones.