Insect Hearing: 55 (Springer Handbook of Auditory Research, 55) - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 3319804502 ISBN 13: 9783319804507

Publisher: Springer, 2018

Synopsis

Insect Hearing provides a broadly based view of the functions, mechanisms, and evolution of hearing in insects. With a single exception, the chapters focus on problems of hearing and their solutions, rather than being focused on particular taxa. The exception, hearing in Drosophila, is justified because, due to its ever growing toolbox of genetic and optical techniques, Drosophila is rapidly becoming one of the most important model systems in neurobiology, including the neurobiology of hearing. Auditory systems, whether insectan or vertebrate, must perform a number of basic tasks: capturing mechanical stimuli and transducing these into neural activity, representing the timing and frequency of sound signals, distinguishing between behaviorally relevant signals and other sounds and localizing sound sources. Studying how these are accomplished in insects offers a valuable comparative view that helps to reveal general principles of auditory function.

About this title

About the Author

Gerald Pollack is a Professor in the Department of Biology, McGill University, which he joined in 1979. He is internationally recognized for his work on the auditory neuroethology of insects, a topic about which he has authored several important invited reviews and book chapters. His own research concerns the auditory behavior and neurophysiology of crickets, where he has examined problems such as the neural mechanisms underlying sound localization, predator detection, and encoding of species-specific communication signals. His body of work has garnered >1500 citations. Andrew Mason’s research is in acoustic communication and sensory biology of insects and spiders. His work on sound localization and auditory processing in the tachinid fly Ormia ochracea has documented hyper-acute directional acuity and source-segregation based on a precedence effect in the periphery of this micro-scale auditory system. Other work, on sound generation and signal function in orthopteran insects and substrate-borne vibration signals in in spiders, has addressed the evolution of communication and the role of signal complexity.

From the Back Cover

Insect Hearing provides a broadly based view of the functions, mechanisms, and evolution of hearing in insects. With a single exception, the chapters focus on problems of hearing and their solutions, rather than being focused on particular taxa. The exception, hearing in Drosophila, serves as a case study of one of the most important model systems in neurobiology, including the neurobiology of hearing. Auditory systems, whether insect or vertebrate, must perform a number of basic tasks: capturing mechanical stimuli and transducing these into neural activity, representing the timing and frequency of sound signals, distinguishing between behaviorally relevant signals and other sounds and localizing sound sources. Studying how these are accomplished in insects offers a valuable comparative view that helps to reveal general principles of auditory function.

 

·         Introduction to Insect Acoustics by Andrew C. Mason and Gerald S. Pollack

·         Evolution of Acoustic Communication in Insects by Michael D. Greenfield

·         Behavioral Ecology of Insect Acoustic Communication by Rohini Balakrishnan

·         Hearing for Defense by Gerald S. Pollack

·         Vibrational Signaling by Jayne Yack

·         Mechanical Specializations of Insect Ears  by James F. C. Windmill and Joseph C. Jackson

·         Auditory Transduction by Daniel F. Eberl, Azusa Kamikouchi, and Joerg T. Albert

·         Central Neural Processing of Sound Signals in Insects by Berthold Hedwig and Andreas Stumpner

·         Information Processing in the Auditory Pathway of Insects by Bernhard Ronacher

·         Hearing in Drosophila by Azusa Kamikouchi and Yuki Ishikawa

 

About the Editors:

Gerald Pollack is a Professor Emeritus in the Department of Biology at McGill University.

Andrew Mason is Associate Professor & Chair in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Toronto, Scarborough.

Richard R. Fay is Distinguished Research Professor of Psychology at Loyola University Chicago.

Arthur N. Popper is Professor Emeritus and Research Professor in the Department of Biology at the University of Maryland, College Park.

About the Series:

The Springer Handbook of Auditory Research presents a series of synthetic reviews of fundamental topics dealing with auditory systems. Each volume is independent and authoritative; taken as a set, this series is the definitive resource in the field.

Edition details

• Publisher: Springer
• Publication date: 2018
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 3319804502
• ISBN 13: 9783319804507
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 275
• Editor: Pollack Gerald S., Mason Andrew C., Popper Arthur N, Fay Richard R