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Rodent senses: Whisking for sound not just touch
1Department of Biology and Psychology, CUNY Graduate Center and Queens College, CUNY, New York, NY 10016, USA.
Current Biology : CB
|March 25, 2025
Summary
Rodents use active whisking not just for touch but also to generate sounds. These self-generated sounds activate the auditory pathway, enabling object identification through sound.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Sensory Biology
- Animal Behavior
Background:
- Rodent whisking is a primary sensory behavior for exploring the environment.
- Traditionally, whisking's sensory feedback was attributed solely to the somatosensory system.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the auditory consequences of rodent whisking.
- To determine if self-generated whisking sounds contribute to sensory perception and object identification.
Main Methods:
- Recording of self-generated sounds during rodent whisking.
- Analysis of neural activation in auditory and somatosensory pathways in response to whisking sounds.
- Behavioral experiments assessing object recognition based on whisking-evoked auditory cues.
Main Results:
- Whisking surfaces produces distinct sounds that are detected by the auditory system.
- Auditory pathway neurons are activated by these self-generated sounds.
- The auditory information from whisking is sufficient for rodents to identify objects.
Conclusions:
- Rodent whisking is a multimodal sensory behavior involving both touch and hearing.
- Self-generated sounds during whisking play a crucial role in environmental perception and object recognition.
- This finding expands our understanding of sensory integration and active sensing in rodents.
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