Decision making in crickets: behavioral choice and neuronal correlates
Final Report Abstract
Here we examined a model system which allows testing processing schemes and predictions of decision making in behavior. Female crickets evaluate several attributes in a male’s acoustic signal during long distance communication and their decision for mate choice behavior. Since these cues originate from spectral and temporal properties of a signal, they are largely uncorrelated and can be varied independently. For behavioural experiments, we used a trackball system by which steering responses towards song models can be quantified as a measure for decisions. The integration of the ‘what’ and ‘where’ of male acoustic signals for decision making follows a common scheme in field crickets: the outcome of separate processing pathways for pattern and directional information are merged by a gain control function determining the final female response. Choice behaviour of female crickets was based on absolute evaluation of sensory cues for particular parameter combinations. However, for other sensory cues a violation of transitivity was also observed and suggested a comparative evaluation of sensory information. The present project provided important insights how female crickets evaluate different sensory cues during choice behaviour and indicate a general processing scheme valid across different species of crickets underlying decision making.
Publications
- (2015) Decision making and preferences for acoustic signals in choice situations by female crickets. J Exp Biol. 218:2641‐50
Gabel E, Kuntze J, Hennig RM
(See online at https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.120378) - (2016) A gain control mechanism governs the weighting of acoustic signal intensity and attractiveness during female decisions. Anim Behav 122, 197‐205
Gabel E, Vural P, Mariot L, Hennig RM
(See online at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2016.10.019) - (2016) Dissecting the contribution of sensory cues to directional responses by female crickets in a two‐loudspeaker paradigm. J Insect Behav 29: 666 ‐ 679
Hennig RM
(See online at https://doi.org/10.1007/s10905-016-9588-7) - (2016) Evidence for comparative decision making in female crickets. Behav. Ecol.
Gabel E, Hennig RM
(See online at https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/arw030) - (2016) How females of chirping and trilling field crickets integrate the ‚what‘ and ‚where‘ of male acoustic signals during decision making. J Comp Physiol A, 202: 823 ‐ 837
Gabel E, Gray DA, Hennig RM
(See online at https://doi.org/10.1007/s00359-016-1124-x) - (2016) Multivariate female preference tests reveal latent perceptual biases. Proc Roy Soc B 283, 20161972
Gray DA, Gabel E, Blankers T, Hennig RM
(See online at https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2016.1972)
