Integration of ultrasound and flight inputs on descending neurons in the cricket brain

In response to ultrasonic stimuli, tethered flying crickets perform evasive steering movements that are directed away from the sound source (negative phonotaxis). In this study we have investigated the responsiveness to ultrasound of neurons that descend from the cricket brain, and whether flight activity facilitates the responsiveness of these neurons. 1. Ultrasonic stimuli evoke descending activity in the cervical connectives both ipsilateral and contralateral to the sound source. 2. Both the amount of descending activity and the latency of this response in the cervical connectives are linearly correlated with ultrasonic stimulus intensity, regardless of the cricket's behavioral state. 3. Flight activity significantly increases the amount of descending activity evoked by ultrasound at all stimulus intensities, and significantly decreases the latency of the response in the cervical connectives compared with non-flying crickets. Flight activity, however, does not significantly affect the activity in an interneuron (Int-1) carrying ultrasound input to the brain. Thus, the increase in the amount of descending activity produced during flight activity is due to the integration of input from Int-1 and the flight motor system to ultrasound-sensitive neurons in the cricket brain. 4. Descending units recorded in the cervical connectives originate in the cricket brain. A reduction in the amount of descending activity is correlated with a decrease in the magnitude of the negative phonotactic response of the abdomen during flight activity, suggesting that these descending units play a role in eliciting negative phonotaxis.