Cell-intrinsic mechanisms of temperature compensation in a grasshopper sensory receptor neuron.
Changes in temperature affect biochemical reaction rates and, consequently, neural processing. The nervous systems of poikilothermic animals must have evolved mechanisms enabling them to retain their functionality under varying temperatures. Auditory receptor neurons of grasshoppers respond to sound in a surprisingly temperature-compensated manner: firing rates depend moderately on temperature, with average Q10 values around 1.5. Analysis of conductance-based neuron models reveals that temperature compensation of spike generation can be achieved solely relying on cell-intrinsic processes and despite a strong dependence of ion conductances on temperature. Remarkably, this type of temperature compensation need not come at an additional metabolic cost of spike generation. Firing rate-based information transfer is likely to increase with temperature and we derive predictions for an optimal temperature dependence of the tympanal transduction process fostering temperature compensation. The example of auditory receptor neurons demonstrates how neurons may exploit single-cell mechanisms to cope with multiple constraints in parallel.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.02078.001.
Institute of Theoretical Biology, Department of Biology, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
Frederic A
FA
Roemschied
Behavioral Physiology Group, Department of Biology, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
Monika Jb
MJ
Eberhard
Institute of Theoretical Biology, Department of Biology, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
Jan-Hendrik
JH
Schleimer
Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience Berlin, Berlin, Germany Behavioral Physiology Group, Department of Biology, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
Bernhard
B
Ronacher
Institute of Theoretical Biology, Department of Biology, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience Berlin, Berlin, Germany s.schreiber@hu-berlin.de.
Susanne
S
Schreiber
D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000200:Action Potentials; D000818:Animals; D006110:Grasshoppers; D008954:Models, Biological; D011984:Sensory Receptor Cells / Q000502:physiology*; D013696:Temperature
energy efficiency; grasshopper; insect auditory periphery; mathematical neuron models; sensitivity analysis; temperature compensation