Changes in the auditory system of locusts (Locusta migratoria and Schistocerca gregaria) after deafferentation

Deafferentation experiments during postembryonic development show morphological and/or physiological changes of receptor fibers and of identified auditory interneurons in the CNS of the locusts Locusta migratoria and Schistocerca gregaria after unilateral ablation of one tympanic organ either in the larva or the adult animal.

1.	In Locusta migratoria, 5 days after deafferentation, intact, contralateral receptor fibers had sprouted collaterals in the frontal acoustic neuropil of the metathoracic ganglion (Figs. 1, 2). Collateral sprouts were only rarely found in Schistocerca gregaria.
2.	After about 20 days the deafferented auditory interneurons receive new inputs from the contralateral receptors (Figs. 3, 5, 7, 10). This largely restores their thresholds and intensity/response functions. Collaterals from the first order interneurons cross the midline to the contralateral neuropil (BSN1 neuron, Fig. 4), which is never seen in intact animals. By contrast, in the TN1 neuron no consistent morphological change due to the deafferentation could be found (Fig. 6).
3.	Interneurons of higher order (AN1, TN3 neuron in locusts) regain their response pattern (Fig. 7) without morphological changes (Fig. 9). Bilateral recordings show that the deafferented interneurons respond more weakly to auditory stimuli than the intact neuron, but the response to vibration stimuli remains unchanged (TN3 neuron, Fig. 8).