The frequency response of rat vibrissae to sound.
The motion of isolated rat vibrissae due to low frequency sound has been modeled and measured with good agreement (within a factor of 2) between the data and the model's predictions. As had been done in previous studies on the response of rat vibrissae to tactile stimulation [Hartmann, M. J., Johnson, N. J., Towal, R. B., and Assad, C., J. Neurosci 23, 6510-6519 (2003) and Neimark, M. A., Andermann, A. L., Hopfield, J. J., and Moore, C. I., J. Neurosci 23, 6449-6509 (2003)] the vibrissae were modeled as thin conical beams. The force of the vibrating air on a vibrissa was modeled using the exact solution for a vibrating infinite cylinder in linear fluid. A finite element method was used to model the motion of a single vibrissa fixed at its base, using the aforementioned fluid force. Values for Young's modulus and vibrissa mass density were taken from a previous study [Neimark et al. (above)]. The model had no freely fitted parameters. Motion of isolated vibrissae was measured using a video camera with microscope. The sound stimulation was created using a stereo speaker connected to a signal generator. The tuning was found to be sharp, with quality factors that varied between 3 and 7, much sharper than the motion of cricket cercal hairs or in vitro inner ear hair bundles.
Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, Suffolk University, 41 Temple St. Boston, Massachusetts 02114, USA. lshatz@suffolk.edu
Lisa F
LF
Shatz
Craig W
CW
Christensen
D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000818:Animals; D008954:Models, Biological; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000502:physiology; D009991:Oscillometry; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D013016:Sound; D014732:Vibration; D014738:Vibrissae / Q000502:physiology*