An auditory-responsive interneuron descending from the cricket brain: a new element in the auditory pathway

Abstract

Crickets receive auditory information from their environment via ears located on the front legs. Ascending interneurons forward auditory activity to the brain, which houses a pattern recognition network for phonotaxis to conspecific calling songs and which controls negative phonotaxis to high-frequency sound pulses. Descending brain neurons, however, which are clearly involved in controlling these behaviors, have not yet been identified. We describe a descending auditory-responsive brain neuron with an arborization pattern that coincides with the ring-like auditory neuropil in the brain formed by the axonal arborizations of ascending and local interneurons, indicating its close link to auditory processing. Spiking activity of this interneuron occurs with a short latency to calling song patterns and the neuron copies the sound pulse pattern. The neuron preferentially responds to short sound pulses, but its activity appears to be independent of the calling song pattern recognition process. It also receives a weaker synaptic input in response to high-frequency pulses, which may contribute to its short latency spiking responses. This interneuron could be a crucial part in the auditory-to-motor transformation of the nervous system and contribute to the motor control of cricket auditory behavior.