Frequency doubling by active in vivo motility of mechanosensory neurons in the mosquito ear.

ABSTRACT: Across vertebrate and invertebrate species, nonlinear active mechanisms are employed to increase the sensitivity and acuity of hearing. In mosquitoes, the antennal hearing organs are known to use active force feedback to enhance auditory acuity to female generated sounds. This sophisticated form of signal processing involves active nonlinear events that are proposed to rely on the motile properties of mechanoreceptor neurons. The fundamental physical mechanism for active auditory mechanics is theorized to rely on a synchronization of motile neurons, with a characteristic frequency doubling of the force generated by an ensemble of motile mechanoreceptors. There is however no direct biomechanical evidence at the mechanoreceptor level, hindering further understanding of the fundamental mechan

SUBMITTER: Windmill JFC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5792899 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature