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Adaptive responses of peripheral lateral line nerve fibres to sinusoidal wave stimuli

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Abstract

Sensory adaptation is characterized by a reduction in the firing frequency of neurons to prolonged stimulation, also called spike frequency adaptation. This has been documented for sensory neurons of the visual, olfactory, electrosensory, and auditory system both in response to constant-amplitude and to sinusoidal stimuli, but has thus far not been described systematically for the lateral line system. We recorded neuronal activity from primary afferent nerve fibres in the lateral line in goldfish in response to sinusoidal wave stimuli. Depending on stimulus characteristics, afferent fibre responses exhibited a distinct onset followed by a decline in firing rate to an apparent steady-state level, i.e., they exhibited adaptation. The degree of adaptation, measured as the percent decrease in firing rate between onset and steady-state, increased with stimulus amplitude and frequency and with increasing steepness of the rising flank of the stimulus. This may in part be due to the velocity and/or acceleration sensitivity of the lateral line receptors. The time course of the response decline, i.e., the time course of adaptation was best-fit by a power function. This is consistent with the previous studies on spike frequency adaptation in sensory afferents of weakly electric fish.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Horst Bleckmann for valuable comments on an earlier version of the manuscript. This research was partly supported by the European Commission, Future and Emerging 476 Technologies, under project CILIA (project number 016039). The experiments reported on in this paper comply with the current animal protection laws of the Federal Republic of Germany (“Tierschutzgesetz”). Use of animals and experimental procedures were approved by the Bezirksregierung Köln, permission no. 50.203.2 BN 7, 14/05.

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  1. Institut für Zoologie, Universität Bonn, Poppelsdorfer Schloß, 53115, Bonn, Germany

    Joachim Mogdans, Maren Frings & Ferdinand Raap

  2. Deutsches Zentrum für Neurodegenerative Erkrankungen e.V. (BMZ1), Sigmund-Freud Str. 25, 53127, Bonn, Germany

    Christina Müller

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  1. Joachim Mogdans
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  2. Christina Müller
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Correspondence to Joachim Mogdans.

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Mogdans, J., Müller, C., Frings, M. et al. Adaptive responses of peripheral lateral line nerve fibres to sinusoidal wave stimuli. J Comp Physiol A 203, 329–342 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00359-017-1172-x

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