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
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(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
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(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
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(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
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(2016) Evidence for comparative decision making in female crickets. Behav. Ecol.
Gabel E, Hennig RM
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(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
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(2016) Multivariate female preference tests reveal latent perceptual biases. Proc Roy Soc B 283, 20161972
Gray DA, Gabel E, Blankers T, Hennig RM
