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Auditory Efferent System Modulates Mosquito Hearing

Andrés, M; Seifert, M; Spalthoff, C; Warren, B; Weiss, L; Giraldo, D; Winkler, M; ... Göpfert, MC; + view all (2016) Auditory Efferent System Modulates Mosquito Hearing. Current Biology , 26 (15) pp. 2028-2036. 10.1016/j.cub.2016.05.077. Green open access

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Abstract

The performance of vertebrate ears is controlled by auditory efferents that originate in the brain and innervate the ear, synapsing onto hair cell somata and auditory afferent fibers [1–3]. Efferent activity can provide protection from noise and facilitate the detection and discrimination of sound by modulating mechanical amplification by hair cells and transmitter release as well as auditory afferent action potential firing [1–3]. Insect auditory organs are thought to lack efferent control [4–7], but when we inspected mosquito ears, we obtained evidence for its existence. Antibodies against synaptic proteins recognized rows of bouton-like puncta running along the dendrites and axons of mosquito auditory sensory neurons. Electron microscopy identified synaptic and non-synaptic sites of vesicle release, and some of the innervating fibers co-labeled with somata in the CNS. Octopamine, GABA, and serotonin were identified as efferent neurotransmitters or neuromodulators that affect auditory frequency tuning, mechanical amplification, and sound-evoked potentials. Mosquito brains thus modulate mosquito ears, extending the use of auditory efferent systems from vertebrates to invertebrates and adding new levels of complexity to mosquito sound detection and communication.

Type: Article
Title: Auditory Efferent System Modulates Mosquito Hearing
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2016.05.077
Publisher version: http://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2016.05.077
Language: English
Additional information: This version is the author accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions.
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > The Ear Institute
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1554605
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