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PLoS One

Title:		Multiphasic on/off pheromone signalling in moths as neural correlates of a search strategy
Author(s):		Martinez D; Chaffiol A; Voges N; Gu Y; Anton S; Rospars JP; Lucas P;
Address:		"UMR7503, Laboratoire Lorrain de Recherche en Informatique et ses Applications, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Vandoeuvre-les-Nancy, France. dominique.martinez@loria.fr"
Journal Title:		PLoS One
Year:		2013
Volume:		20130417
Issue:		4
Page Number:		e61220 -
DOI:		10.1371/journal.pone.0061220
ISSN/ISBN:		1932-6203 (Electronic) 1932-6203 (Linking)
Abstract:		"Insects and robots searching for odour sources in turbulent plumes face the same problem: the random nature of mixing causes fluctuations and intermittency in perception. Pheromone-tracking male moths appear to deal with discontinuous flows of information by surging upwind, upon sensing a pheromone patch, and casting crosswind, upon losing the plume. Using a combination of neurophysiological recordings, computational modelling and experiments with a cyborg, we propose a neuronal mechanism that promotes a behavioural switch between surge and casting. We show how multiphasic On/Off pheromone-sensitive neurons may guide action selection based on signalling presence or loss of the pheromone. A Hodgkin-Huxley-type neuron model with a small-conductance calcium-activated potassium (SK) channel reproduces physiological On/Off responses. Using this model as a command neuron and the antennae of tethered moths as pheromone sensors, we demonstrate the efficiency of multiphasic patterning in driving a robotic searcher toward the source. Taken together, our results suggest that multiphasic On/Off responses may mediate olfactory navigation and that SK channels may account for these responses"
Keywords:		"Animals Appetitive Behavior/*drug effects Bicuculline/pharmacology Male Models, Neurological Moths/*drug effects/*physiology Neurons/*drug effects/*physiology Pheromones/*pharmacology Picrotoxin/pharmacology Potassium Channels, Calcium-Activated/metabolis;"
Notes:		"MedlineMartinez, Dominique Chaffiol, Antoine Voges, Nicole Gu, Yuqiao Anton, Sylvia Rospars, Jean-Pierre Lucas, Philippe eng BSYS-006/Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council/United Kingdom Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't 2013/04/25 PLoS One. 2013 Apr 17; 8(4):e61220. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0061220. Print 2013"