2. Behavioral Biology TALKS - Deutsche Zoologische Gesellschaft

neurons, which pass odor information to higher brain areas. We analyzed the spatiotemporal
response patterns of odor responses and post-odor responses in olfactory
glomeruli, which are the functional units of the antennal lobe. For both neuron
populations odors evoked specific response patterns of activated and inhibited
glomeruli, which corresponded to the previously described combinatorial response
patterns (see http://neuro.uni.kn/DoOR). After odor offset, the odor response
patterns turned into prolonged post-odor response patterns of activated and
inhibited glomeruli, which were dissimilar to the initial odor response patterns, but
still odor specific. Variation of the stimulus length had only minor effects on the postodor
activity patterns. Taken together, these results show that there is a physiological
odor trace in the antennal lobe of Drosophila. Whether this physiological trace is the
substrate of the behavioral trace remains to be determined.
����159 Shouwen Ma
Neural mechanism of auditory-vocal coupling in HVC for calling communication of
Zebra finch (Taeniopygiaguttata)
Authors: Shouwen Ma 1 , Lisa Trost 1 , Andries TerMaat 1 , Manfred L. Gahr 1
Affiliation: 1 Behavioural Neurobiology, Max Planck Institute for Ornithology
Zebra finches are social animals that communicate with each other using calls and
songs. To facilitate the social communication a precise mechanism of auditory-vocal
coupling is required. Previous studies have shown that the song communication
involves a specific higher vocal pathway, but the neural mechanism of calling
communication is at present poorly known. In this study, a radio neural telemetric
system was used for simultaneous measurements of neural activity and vocalization
in freely behaving zebra finches with social interaction. We report that the
sensorimotor nucleus HVC of male zebra finches displays a rigid pattern of activity in
calling production and auditory representation, whereas the auditory response to
calls of conspecifics in HVC is regularly coupled. We further show a correlation
between local field potential and the firing patterns, indicating that the auditory
processing and vocal control are mediated through the local circuits in HVC. The
neural mechanism of auditory-vocal coupling allows the animals to maintain the
sensitivity to sensory input while vocalizing during social communication.
����160 Joachim Mogdans
Adaptation to dipole stimuli in brainstem lateral line units
Authors: Joachim Mogdans 1 , Felix Clotten 1
Affiliation: 1 Institute for Zoology, University of Bonn
The responses of brainstem lateral line units to constant-amplitude dipole stimuli are
generally described as having a higher degree of adaptation than those of primary
afferents. This, however, has never been shown quantitatively. Here, we recorded
the responses of lateral line units in the brainstem medial octavolateralis nucleus
(MON) to a dipole stimulus, i.e. a sinusoidally vibrating sphere (Ø 8 mm). Stimulus
frequencies were 50 Hz and 100 Hz with peak-to-peak displacement amplitudes of
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