Coding of concurrent vocal signals by the auditory midbrain: effects of duration

Neural selectivity to signal duration within the auditory midbrain has been observed in several species and is thought to play a role in signal recognition. Here we examine the effects of signal duration on the coding of individual and concurrent vocal signals in a teleost fish with exceptionally long duration vocalizations, the plainfin midshipman, Porichthys notatus. Nesting males produce long-duration, multi-harmonic signals known as hums to attract females to their nests; overlapping hums produce acoustic beats at the difference frequency of their spectral components. Our data show that all midbrain neurons have sustained responses to long-duration hum-like tones and beats. Overall spike counts increase linearly with signal duration, although spike rates decrease dramatically. Neurons show varying degrees of spike rate decline and hence, differential changes in spike rate across the neuron population may code signal duration. Spike synchronization to beat difference frequency progressively increases throughout long-duration beats such that significant difference frequency coding is maintained in most neurons. The significance level of difference frequency synchronization coding increases by an order of magnitude when integrated over the entirety of long-duration signals. Thus, spike synchronization remains a reliable difference frequency code and improves with integration over longer time spans.     

Acoustic myography as an indicator of force during sustained contractions of a small hand muscle

To test the hypothesis that muscle sound amplitudes would remain constant during sustained submaximal isometric contractions, we recorded acoustic myograms from the abductor digiti minimi muscle in 12 subjects at 15, 25, 50, and 75% of a maximum voluntary contraction (MVC). Muscle sounds were detected with an omni-directional electret microphone encased in closed-cell foam and attached to the skin over the muscle. Acoustic amplitudes from the middle and end of the sustained contractions were compared with the amplitudes from the beginning of contractions to determine whether acoustic amplitudes varied in magnitude as force remained constant. Physiological tremor was eliminated from the acoustic signal by use of a Fourier truncation at 14 Hz. The amplitudes of the acoustic signal at a contraction intensity of 75% MVC remained constant, reflecting force production over time. At 50% MVC, the root-mean-square amplitude decreased from the beginning to the end of the contraction (P less than 0.05). Acoustic amplitudes increased over time at 15 and 25% MVC and were significantly higher at the end of the contractions than at the beginning (P less than 0.05). Alterations in the acoustic amplitude, which reflect changes in the lateral vibrations of the muscle, may be indicative of the different recruitment strategies used to maintain force during sustained isometric contractions.     

First record of the drumming signals of stoneflies Capnopsis Morton, 1896 and Protonemura Kempny, 1898 genera (Plecoptera,Capniidae and Nemouridae)

The male drumming signal of Capnopsis schilleri is studied for the first time. It is a monophasic call composed of 4–8 beats with a decreasing frequency. In the present paper, the drumming signals of some Protonemura species are also recorded and described for the first time both in males (Protonemura alcazaba, Protonemura meyeri and Protonemura navacerrada) and females (P. meyeri, P. navacerrada and Protonemura pyrenaica). The male call is very homogeneous in all the studied species and they consist of a repetition of 2–11 sequences of 6–31 beats, with an inter‐beat interval ranging from 0.034 to 0.088 s. The females have monophasic long signals consisting of a repetition of 5 to 109 beats with an inter‐beat interval of 0.061 to 0.159 s. It is extraordinary that females produced signals when males were absent, and so the female signal can be also considered as a call and not only an answer, as usually pointed out in stoneflies.     

Sound production in the red swamp crayfish Procambarus clarkii (Decapoda: Cambaridae)

Little is known about the acoustic behaviour of freshwater crustaceans. The present study is the first to describe the acoustic features and the sound production mechanisms of the crayfish Procambarus clarkii. Acoustic signalling was recorded and videotaped. When the animals were recorded in air, they produced a pulsed signal by beating the scaphognathite inside the chamber constituted by the efferent branchial channels. No sound was emitted after scaphognathite ablation. The acoustic features of the signals varied among individuals but were not correlated with body size. Several hypotheses on the functions of these sounds were discussed.     

Biological invasions and the acoustic niche: the effect of bullfrog calls on the acoustic signals of white-banded tree frogs

Invasive species are known to affect native species in a variety of ways, but the effect of acoustic invaders has not been examined previously. We simulated an invasion of the acoustic niche by exposing calling native male white-banded tree frogs (Hypsiboas albomarginatus) to recorded invasive American bullfrog (Lithobates catesbeianus) calls. In response, tree frogs immediately shifted calls to significantly higher frequencies. In the post-stimulus period, they continued to use higher frequencies while also decreasing signal duration. Acoustic signals are the primary basis of mate selection in many anurans, suggesting that such changes could negatively affect the reproductive success of native species. The effects of bullfrog vocalizations on acoustic communities are expected to be especially severe due to their broad frequency band, which masks the calls of multiple species simultaneously.     

Application of projection pursuit based robust principal component analysis to ECG enhancement

The paper presents an application of principal component analysis (PCA) to ECG processing. For this purpose the ECG beats are time-aligned and stored in the columns of an auxiliary matrix. The matrix, considered as a set of multidimensional variables, undergoes PCA. Reconstruction of the respective columns on the basis of a low dimensional principal subspace leads to the enhancement of the stored ECG beats. A few modifications of this classical approach to ECG signal filtering by means of a multivariate analysis are introduced. The first one is based on replacing the classical PCA by its robust extension. The second consists in replacing the analysis of the whole synchronized beats by the analysis of shorter signal segments. This creates the background for the third modification, which introduces the concept of variable dimensions of the subspaces corresponding to different parts of ECG beats. The experiments performed show that introduction of the respective modifications significantly improves the classical approach to ECG processing by application of principal component analysis.     

Characterizing the vibratory and acoustic signals of the “purring” wolf spider,Gladicosa gulosa (Araneae: Lycosidae)

Both airborne acoustic signals and substrate-borne vibrations are prevalent modes of animal communication, particularly in arthropods. While a wide variety of animals utilize one or both of these modalities, the connection between them is still ambiguous in many species. Spiders as a group are not known for using, or even perceiving, acoustic signals, despite being well-adapted for vibratory communication. Males of the “purring” wolf spider Gladicosa gulosa are reported to produce audible signals during courtship, although the literature on this species is largely anecdotal. Using a laser Doppler vibrometer and an omnidirectional microphone in controlled conditions, we recorded and characterized the visual and mechanical (both substrate-borne and airborne) signals of this species in an attempt to provide a qualitative and quantitative overview of its signal properties. We found that the vibratory signal is composed of two primary repeating and alternating elements, consisting of pulses of stridulation and percussive strikes, as well as a less common, but repeatable, third element. We also characterized a measurable airborne component to the signal that is significantly correlated with the amplitude of the vibratory signal, which we suggest is a by-product of the strong vibration. Neither modality correlated significantly with male body size or condition. Although the exact role of the acoustic component is unclear, we speculate that the unique properties of signalling in this species may have value in answering new questions about animal communication.     

Electrical reactions in the cat brain during differentiation of photic stimuli]

Study of EEG responses to photic conditioned stimuli in cats has shown that the extent of brain activation depends not on the physical strength of the stimulus, but on its biological significance. The longest activation is recorded to a positive signal, even if it is the weakest flash of light. The intensity of EEG responses to negative stimuli is determined by the nearness of their physical parameters to those of the positive signal. Repeated presentation of a non-reinforced flash leads to a gradual extinction of EEG reactions. Brain activation in response to a reinforced positive signal persists unchanged even after a large number of its repetitions. The revealed properties of brain electrical reactions to stimuli of different significance accord with those previously recorded in response to acoustic stimuli. In both cases the data are in agreement with hypothesis of a central system of signal analysis, which performs the estimation of stimuli according to their biological quality.     

Description of the male drumming signals of Besdolus bicolor (Navás 1909) (Plecoptera: Perlodidae)

The call of the male of Besdolus bicolor, produced by percussion or drumming, is described for the first time. It represents the first recorded and analyzed signal for the genus Besdolus. It consists of a repetition of two or three beat groups, with each group composed by two (rarely three) beats, and with very constant interbeat intervals and intergroup intervals (mean 0.037 seconds and 0.213 seconds, respectively). The call pattern exhibited by this species can be catalogued as an ancestral percussive signal.     

Buttress drumming by wild chimpanzees: Temporal patterning, phrase integration into loud calls, and preliminary evidence for individual distinctiveness

Wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) generate low-frequency sounds that are audible to humans from a distance of at least 1 km away by hitting the buttresses of trees with their hands and feet. This buttress drumming occurs in discrete bouts of rapidly delivered beats that usually accompany “pant hoots,” the species-specific long-distance vocalization. Individual differences in male chimpanzee (P.t. verus) drumming were investigated during a 6-month field study in the Taï National Park, Ivory Coast. Analysis of drumming bouts recorded from six adult males revealed significant differences between individuals in three acoustic features: (1) mean duration of inter-beat interval; (2) mean number of beats per bout; and (3) mean bout duration. Preliminary analysis indicated that individuals differ in their tendency to deliver drum beats in temporally close pairs separated by longer interbeat intervals. Qualitative examination also suggested that individuals may differ in the temporal integration of drumming into the pant hoot vocalization. These results suggest that there may be acoustic cues available for chimpanzees to recognize unseen males by their drumming performances alone. Drumming by Taï chimpanzees was also compared to drumming by chimpanzees (P.t. schweinfurthii) from the Kanyawara study group in Kibale National Park. Uganda. The Kanyawara chimpanzees appeared to drum more often without vocalizing than did the Taï chimpanzees. When they did drum and vocalize together, the Kanyawara chimpanzees appeared to integrate their drumming later into the associated pant hoots than did the Taï chimpanzees. These results suggest the possibility that interpopulation variation exists in chimpanzee buttress drumming.     

Heart rate in caged Macaca fascicularis. Effects of short-term physical exercise.

Electrocardiograms were recorded hourly for five days in 16 caged Macaca fascicularis by means of a miniaturized ECG transmitter connected to two chest leads. The lowest heart rates were 135 +/- 35 (mean +/- SD, n= 31) beats/min at 5 a.m., and the highest were 192 +/- 22 (n = 29) beats/min at 3 p.m. Sinus arrhythmia was common. Eight of the animals were trained to exercise in a specially designed enclosed treadmill; their heart rates were recorded daily during two 10-min periods of running at 3.4 km/h. Transfer of the monkeys (n k0) to the treadmill increased heart rate from 186 +/- 24 to 228 +/- 23 beats/min; exercise further increased it to 271 +/- 8 beats/min.     

Trace reactions following combination of a sensory stimulus with polarization of the visual region of the cortex]

Spontaneous activity and responses to photic flashes and tones of 133 neurones were recorded in the visual cortex during polarization of the same area (1.5 to 10 muA, 5 to 30 min) and after it (one to 52 min). Responses of cells to two unimodal stimuli of different parameters were analysed, of which one was presented repeatedly during the polarization ("positive"), and the other one to three times ("negative"). Depending on the previous "learning", 47.4% of the units responded after the polarization to "positive" photic stimulus and 37,8%--to acoustic stimulus. The trace effects of the stimuli pairings are reproduced in polarization after-effect by the action of the sensory signal alone. The recorded differences in the nature and duration of the reproduction of trace processes formed to an adequate and inadequate stimuli, are due to the dissimilar action of polarizing currents on neurones of the cortex cross-section and to different effectivity of the visual and non-visual influences related to it.     

First results with a new estuarine fish tracking system

A 'sonar buoy' tracking system has been developed at the MAFF Fisheries Laboratory based upon acoustic transmitting tags and relay units which retransmit the pulsed acoustic signal as a radio signal. The output from several such 'sonar buoys' is monitored by a single automatic recording station on the shore. The system has been used on salmon in the estuary of the River Fowey in Cornwall, providing useful data on the behaviour of returning adults before they enter the river. The tags also transmit a radio frequency signal to allow tracking in the river itself. Of fourteen fish tagged in 1985, six were recorded entering the river between 12 h and 41 days after being released. Another fish was recaptured in a coastal net 160 km to the east. These few preliminary results indicated two distinct patterns of behaviour: one fish remained in deep water in the lower estuary for several days, often lying near moored ships or jetties; at other times fish made extensive excursions up the estuary with the tide, usually returning with the ebb.     

Electrophysiological studies with repeated episodes of ischaemia on isolated rat heart

In order to know the beneficial effect of preconditioning electrocardiography recording were used as tool to assess myocardial malfunction and for this perfusion apparatus was setup. Electrophysiological changes for each heart were recorded during perfusion at 1, 2, 3, 5, 10, 20, 30 and 60 min of global ischaemia and also during the equal period of reperfusion. Recordings dembnstrate that the normal rate was about 240 beats/min with an "R" amplitude of 4mV. During the first ischaemic episode of 1min the rate was 180 +/- 15 beats/min (counted as per 'R' wave deflection), at 2 mins it was 60 +/- 6 beats/min, at 3 min the rate was 40 +/- 2 beats/min, at 5 mins of ischaemia it was 90 +/- 6 beats/min, at 10 min 20 +/- 2 beats/min, at 20 min the rate was 60 +/- 4 beats/min, and at 30 mins there were nil beats/min. The recovery during all the periods of reperfusion was restored to between 120 and 180 beats/min in all episodes. Further after a 60 min of ischaemia the heart stopped to elicit any mechanical response. It is concluded that short term ischaemia can induce a resilient effect on the beating of the heart after a few episodes as seen subsequent to 1 and 2 min of ischaemia. Further, preconditioning was beneficial up to 30 min, beyond which the heart showed signs of fatigue and irreversible injury.     

Non-Invasive Acoustical sensing of Drug-Induced Effects on the Contractile Machinery of Human Cardiomyocyte Clusters

There is an urgent need for improved models for cardiotoxicity testing. Here we propose acoustic sensing applied to beating human cardiomyocyte clusters for non-invasive, surrogate measuring of the QT interval and other characteristics of the contractile machinery. In experiments with the acoustic method quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring (QCM-D), the shape of the recorded signals was very similar to the extracellular field potential detected in electrochemical experiments, and the expected changes of the QT interval in response to addition of conventional drugs (E-4031 or nifedipine) were observed. Additionally, changes in the dissipation signal upon addition of cytochalasin D were in good agreement with the known, corresponding shortening of the contraction-relaxation time. These findings suggest that QCM-D has great potential as a tool for cardiotoxicological screening, where effects of compounds on the cardiomyocyte contractile machinery can be detected independently of whether the extracellular field potential is altered or not.     

Beyond the river: underlying determinants of population acoustic signal variability in Amazonian direct-developing Allobates (Anura: Dendrobatoidea)

The multidimensional nature of animal signals makes acoustic traits potentially subject to different determinants. The Amazonian frogs Allobates nidicola and Allobates masniger have an allopatric distribution, occurring along the left and right sides of the Madeira River, respectively. These are two sister, phenotypically similar species whose eggs are deposited and develop entirely in a terrestrial nest. In this study, we analyzed 2,000 advertisement calls recorded from ten localities across Central Amazonia, in order to understand the role of determinants of acoustic signal variability at the population and species levels. We assessed, through nested analyses of variance, the differentiation of six characters of this sexual signal among populations and between interfluves. Moreover, we measured the degree of variability and the extent of temperature- and body size-induced plasticity in call traits. We also tested for isolation-by-distance effects in phenotypic differentiation through Mantel tests. Coefficients of variation were higher among than within populations for all call measurements. Spectral call properties were more distinctive than temporal traits among populations and species. Advertisement call traits showed strong temperature-induced plasticity (e.g., 45?% of the variation in note duration). In contrast, the effects of body size were restricted to frequency-related characters. The river barrier effect was significant among all the acoustic variables analyzed even after controlling for male body size. Geography (sampling locality) and body size also jointly affected call variability. No correlation between geographical and acoustic distances among populations was observed, suggesting that local stabilizing selective pressures have an important role in the evolution of call differentiation.     

Stream Noise,Hybridization, and Uncoupled Evolution of Call Traits in Two Lineages of Poison Frogs: Oophaga histrionica and Oophaga lehmanni

According to the acoustic adaptation hypothesis, communication signals are evolutionary shaped in a way that minimizes its degradation and maximizes its contrast against the background noise. To compare the importance for call divergence of acoustic adaptation and hybridization, an evolutionary force allegedly promoting phenotypic variation, we compared the mate recognition signal of two species of poison frogs (Oophaga histrionica and O. lehmanni) at five localities: two (one per species) alongside noisy streams, two away from streams, and one interspecific hybrid. We recorded the calls of 47 males and characterized the microgeographic variation in their spectral and temporal features, measuring ambient noise level, body size, and body temperature as covariates. As predicted, frogs living in noisy habitats uttered high frequency calls and, in one species, were much smaller in size. These results support a previously unconsidered role of noise on streams as a selective force promoting an increase in call frequency and pleiotropic effects in body size. Regarding hybrid frogs, their calls overlapped in the signal space with the calls of one of the parental lineages. Our data support acoustic adaptation following two evolutionary routes but do not support the presumed role of hybridization in promoting phenotypic diversity.     

First record of male drumming call of the genus Capnioneura Ris, 1905 (Plecoptera,Capniidae)

The male call of Capnioneura mitis, produced by drumming, is recorded and analyzed for the first time. It also represents the first known signal for the genus. It consists of a highly variable number of beats (2–32) with inter‐beat duration approximately constant along the call, but inter‐beat duration is temperature dependent. Thus, at 13°C the mean inter‐beat duration is 1.397 s (SD = 0.050) while at 21°C it is 1.139 s (SD = 0.093). The call pattern exhibited by this species, as those of the majority of previously studied Capniidae species, can be catalogued as an ancestral or near‐ancestral percussive monophasic signal.     

Hearing and communication in birds: the cocktail-party-effect in intraspecific communication of Agapornis roseicollis (aves, psittacidae).

Lovebirds ($\text{Agapornis roseicollis}$) were able to detect recorded acoustic signals of their mates from background noise (vocalizations of birds of the same species); signal-to-noise ratio 13 dB.Signal detection and intelligibility at different levels is so far known to be based on two components: The preferential motivation of the signal recipient as a psycho-physical factor, and - in the case of voice recognition in background noise - the possession of two ears as the physical factor. Since this complex phenomenon, termed the cocktail-party-effect, has first been investigated in the acoustic behaviour of humans (1,2), ethologists have supposed that this effect also exists in the animal acoustic behaviour of Vertebrates (3,4,5) and probably Invertebrates (pers. comm.).