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Contemporary neuroscience faces few limitations in its attempts to identify and characterize fundamental molecular, physiological, or biochemical constituents of brain systems. Such information alone, however, will ultimately be of little value unless we can also provide insights into their functional role and behavioral relevance (1). Although the latter is always a challenge, it is especially so when we aim to explore the proximate causal mechanisms underlying behavioral phenomena such as motivations (2), emotions (3), or the dynamic control of decision making (4). For such hypothetical constructs, values cannot be assigned directly; estimates of tendency can only be assessed once they manifest as observable behavior within a given context. In our search for neural substrates, then, it is essential that we combine studies of physiology, biochemistry, and molecular genetics, with quantitative behavioral analyses. The paper by Heinrich et al. (5) in this issue of PNAS explores the neural underpinnings of arousal in the calling behavior of grasshoppers. Bridging different levels of analysis, it aims to both highlight and foster the search for a mechanistic understanding of arousal as a complex behavioral phenomenon. With a primary focus on the motivational components of behavior, these observations offer a significant and timely contribution in several respects. Firstly, the study provides a penetrating view into the molecular and physiological workings of a system in which behavioral states play a powerful role. Secondly, its truly interdisciplinary approach serves as a valuable case study illustrating how to combine investigation across diverse levels of organization to probe the underpinnings of behavior within an ethological framework. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, it highlights how expectations for complex interactions between behavior and its neural substrates have shifted from a view of neural mechanisms “for” a particular behavior, to a neural environment that “fosters” the occurrence of a specific behavior (6 …

Multidisciplinary dissection of behavioral arousal: The role of muscarinic acetylcholine stimulation in grasshopper stridulatory behavior