Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The generation of DPOAEs in the locust ear is contingent upon the sensory neurons

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Journal of Comparative Physiology A Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Tympanal organs of insects emit distortion-product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAEs) that are indicative of nonlinear ear mechanics. Our study sought (1) to define constraints of DPOAE generation in the ear of Locusta migratoria, and (2) to identify the sensory structures involved. We selectively destroyed the connection between the (peripheral) sensory ganglion and the tympanal attachment points of the “d-cell” dendrites; d-cells are most sensitive to sound frequencies above 12 kHz. This led to a decrease of DPOAEs that were evoked by f 2 frequencies above 15 kHz (decrease of 15–40 dB; mean 28 dB; n = 12 organs). DPOAEs elicited by lower frequencies remained unchanged. Such frequency-specific changes following the exclusion of one scolopidial sub-population suggest that these auditory scolopidia are in fact the source of DPOAEs in insects. Electrical stimulation of the auditory nerve (with short current pulses of 4–10 μA or DC-currents of 0.5 μA) reversibly reduced DPOAEs by as much as 30 dB. We assume that retrograde electrical stimulation primarily affected the neuronal part of the scolopidia. Severing the auditory nerve from the central nervous system (CNS) did not alter the DPOAE amplitudes nor the effects of electrical stimulation.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Coro F, Kössl M (1998) Distortion-product otoacoustic emissions from the tympanic organ in two noctuoid moths. J Comp Physiol A 183:525–531

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Coro F, Kössl M (2001) Components of the 2f1-f2 distortion-product otoacoustic emission in a moth. Hear Res 162:126–133

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dallos P, Fackler B (2002) Prestin, a new type of motor protein. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol 3:104–111

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Frank G, Kössl M (1996) The acoustic two-tone distortions 2f1-f2 and f2-f1 and their possible relation to changes in the operating point of the cochlear amplifier. Hear Res 98:104–115

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fuhr G, Ronacher B, Krahe R, Fest S, Shirley SG, Rogaschewski S (1999) UV-laser ablation of sensory cells in living insects. Appl Phys A 68:379–385

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Göpfert MC, Robert D (2001) Active auditory mechanics in mosquitoes. Proc R Soc Lond B 268:333–339

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Göpfert MC, Robert D (2003) Motion generation by Drosophila mechanosensory neurons. Proc Natl Acad Sci 100:5514–5519

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Göpfert MC, Humphris ADL, Albert JT, Robert D, Hendrich O (2005) Power gain exhibited by motile mechanosensory neurons in Drosophila ears. Proc Natl Acad Sci 102:325–330

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Göpfert MC, Albert JT, Nadrowski B, Kamikouchi A (2006) Specification of auditory sensitivity by Drosophila TRP channels. Nat Neurosci 9:999–1000

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gray EG (1960) The fine structure of the insect ear. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B 243:75–94

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hoy RR, Robert D (1996) Tympanal hearing in insects. Annu Rev Entomol 41:433–450

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jacobs K, Otte B, Lakes-Harlan R (1999) Tympanal receptor cells in Schistocerca gregaria: Correlation of soma positions and dendrite attachment sites, central projections and physiologies. J Exp Zool 283:270–285

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kössl M, Boyan GS (1998) Acoustic distortion products from the ear of a grasshopper. J Acoust Soc Am 104:326–335

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kössl M, Coro F (2006) L1,L2 maps of distortion-product otoacoustic emissions from a moth ear with only two auditory receptor neurons. J Acoust Soc Am 120:3822–3831

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kössl M, Vater M (2000) Consequences of outer hair cell damage for otoacoustic emissions and audio-vocal feedback in the mustached bat. J Assoc Res Otolaryngol 1:300–314

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Liberman MC, Zuo J, Guinan JJ Jr (2004) Otoacoustic emissions without somatic motility: Can stereocilia mechanics drive the mammalian cochlea? J Acoust Soc Am 116:1649–1655

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lukashkin AN, Russell IJ (1999) Analysis of the f2-f1 and 2f1-f2 distortion components generated by the hair cell mechanoelectrical transducer: Dependence on the amplitudes of the primaries and feedback gain. J Acoust Soc Am 106:2661–2668

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lukashkin AN, Russell IJ (2005) Dependence of the DPOAE amplitude pattern on acoustical biasing of the cochlear partition. Hear Res 203:45–53

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Manley GA, Kirk DL, Köppl C, Yates GK (2001) In vivo evidence for a cochlear amplifier in the hair-cell bundle of lizards. Proc Natl Acad Sci 98:2826–2831

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Manley GA (2001) Evidence for an active process and a cochlear amplifier in nonmammals. J Neurophysiol 86:541–549

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Michelsen A (1971) The physiology of the locust ear. I. Frequency sensitivity of single cells in the isolated ear. II. Frequency discrimination based upon resonances in the tympanum. III. Acoustical properties of the intact ear. Z Vergl Physiol 71:49–128

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mills DM, Rubel EW (1996) Development of the cochlear amplifier. J Acoust Soc Am 100:428–441

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mills DM (2003) Differential responses to acoustic damage and furosemide in auditory brainstem and otoacoustic emission measures. J Acoust Soc Am 113:914–924

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Römer H (1976) Die Informationsverarbeitung tympanaler Rezeptorelemente von Locusta migratoria (Acrididae, Orthoptera). [Processing of information by tympanal receptors of Locusta migratoria (Acrididae, Orthoptera).] J Comp Physiol A 109:101–122

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weber T, Göpfert MC, Winter H, Zimmermann U, Kohler H, Meier A, Hendrich O, Rohbock K, Robert D, Knipper M (2003) Expression of prestin-homologous solute carrier (SLC26) in auditory organs of nonmammalian vertebrates and insects. Proc Natl Acad Sci 100:7690–7695

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Windmill JFC, Göpfert MC, Robert D (2005) Tympanal travelling waves in migratory locusts. J Exp Biol 208:157–168

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Yates GK, Kirk DL (1998) Cochlear electrically evoked emissions modulated by mechanical transduction channels. J Neurosci 18:1996–2003

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We thank Heiner Römer for suggesting the selective mechanical ablation of d-cells in the locust ear, and we are grateful to Kerstin Röhr and Diana Baumgarten for their help with the initial ablation experiments. All experiments performed in this study comply with the “Principles of Animal Care,” Pub. No. 86-23, revised 1985, of the NIH and with the current laws of Germany. Our work was supported by grants from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) and a stipend from the Evangelisches Studienwerk to D.M.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut für Zellbiologie und Neurowissenschaft, J. W. Goethe-Universität, Siesmayerstrasse 70, Biologie Campus, Haus A, 60323, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

    Doreen Möckel, Ernst-August Seyfarth & Manfred Kössl

Authors
  1. Doreen Möckel
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Ernst-August Seyfarth
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Manfred Kössl
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Doreen Möckel.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Möckel, D., Seyfarth, EA. & Kössl, M. The generation of DPOAEs in the locust ear is contingent upon the sensory neurons. J Comp Physiol A 193, 871–879 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00359-007-0239-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00359-007-0239-5

Keywords

Search

Navigation