A stimulus generating system for studying wind sensation in the American cockroach

A novel system for the generation and measurement of a two dimensional wind stimulus is proposed and described. This system was used to investigate the wind sensation of the American cockroach. The new aspects of this system are (a) a pair of computer driven wind tunnels that are shown to produce non-turbulent flows and (b) a novel fiber optic wind detector that measures both amplitude and direction of the wind. Winds can be produced and measured in behaviorally relevant frequency and amplitude ranges without perturbing the airflow. The combination of both the wind generation system and wind detector makes the system very flexible and allows the generation of stimuli with any given spectrum. The two dimensional wind stimulus is shown to be very reproducible. The wind detector is independent of the wind generation system so it can be used for measuring natural winds as well. Experimental data obtained on the cockroach are presented.