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England SJ, Robert D. The ecology of electricity and electroreception. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2021; 97:383-413. [PMID: 34643022 DOI: 10.1111/brv.12804] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/24/2021] [Revised: 09/27/2021] [Accepted: 09/28/2021] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Electricity, the interaction between electrically charged objects, is widely known to be fundamental to the functioning of living systems. However, this appreciation has largely been restricted to the scale of atoms, molecules, and cells. By contrast, the role of electricity at the ecological scale has historically been largely neglected, characterised by punctuated islands of research infrequently connected to one another. Recently, however, an understanding of the ubiquity of electrical forces within the natural environment has begun to grow, along with a realisation of the multitude of ecological interactions that these forces may influence. Herein, we provide the first comprehensive collation and synthesis of research in this emerging field of electric ecology. This includes assessments of the role electricity plays in the natural ecology of predator-prey interactions, pollination, and animal dispersal, among many others, as well as the impact of anthropogenic activity on these systems. A detailed introduction to the ecology and physiology of electroreception - the biological detection of ecologically relevant electric fields - is also provided. Further to this, we suggest avenues for future research that show particular promise, most notably those investigating the recently discovered sense of aerial electroreception.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sam J England
- School of Biological Sciences, Life Sciences Building, University of Bristol, 24 Tyndall Avenue, Bristol, BS8 1TQ, U.K
| | - Daniel Robert
- School of Biological Sciences, Life Sciences Building, University of Bristol, 24 Tyndall Avenue, Bristol, BS8 1TQ, U.K
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Melrose J. Functional Consequences of Keratan Sulfate Sulfation in Electrosensory Tissues and in Neuronal Regulation. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2019; 3:e1800327. [PMID: 32627425 DOI: 10.1002/adbi.201800327] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2018] [Revised: 01/16/2019] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
Keratan sulfate (KS) is a functional electrosensory and neuro-instructive molecule. Recent studies have identified novel low sulfation KS in auditory and sensory tissues such as the tectorial membrane of the organ of Corti and the Ampullae of Lorenzini in elasmobranch fish. These are extremely sensitive proton gradient detection systems that send signals to neural interfaces to facilitate audition and electrolocation. High and low sulfation KS have differential functional roles in song learning in the immature male zebra song-finch with high charge density KS in song nuclei promoting brain development and cognitive learning. The conductive properties of KS are relevant to the excitable neural phenotype. High sulfation KS interacts with a large number of guidance and neuroregulatory proteins. The KS proteoglycan microtubule associated protein-1B (MAP1B) stabilizes actin and tubulin cytoskeletal development during neuritogenesis. A second 12 span transmembrane synaptic vesicle associated KS proteoglycan (SV2) provides a smart gel storage matrix for the storage of neurotransmitters. MAP1B and SV2 have prominent roles to play in neuroregulation. Aggrecan and phosphacan have roles in perineuronal net formation and in neuroregulation. A greater understanding of the biology of KS may be insightful as to how neural repair might be improved.
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Affiliation(s)
- James Melrose
- Raymond Purves Bone and Joint Research Laboratories, Kolling Institute of Medical Research, Royal North Shore Hospital and University of Sydney, St. Leonards, NSW, 2065, Australia.,Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia.,Sydney Medical School, Northern, Sydney University, Royal North Shore Hospital, St. Leonards, NSW, 2065, Australia.,Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Royal North Shore Hospital, St. Leonards, NSW, 2065, Australia
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Czech-Damal NU, Dehnhardt G, Manger P, Hanke W. Passive electroreception in aquatic mammals. J Comp Physiol A Neuroethol Sens Neural Behav Physiol 2012. [DOI: 10.1007/s00359-012-0780-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
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Czech-Damal NU, Liebschner A, Miersch L, Klauer G, Hanke FD, Marshall C, Dehnhardt G, Hanke W. Electroreception in the Guiana dolphin (Sotalia guianensis). Proc Biol Sci 2011; 279:663-8. [PMID: 21795271 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2011.1127] [Citation(s) in RCA: 54] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Passive electroreception is a widespread sense in fishes and amphibians, but in mammals this sensory ability has previously only been shown in monotremes. While the electroreceptors in fish and amphibians evolved from mechanosensory lateral line organs, those of monotremes are based on cutaneous glands innervated by trigeminal nerves. Electroreceptors evolved from other structures or in other taxa were unknown to date. Here we show that the hairless vibrissal crypts on the rostrum of the Guiana dolphin (Sotalia guianensis), structures originally associated with the mammalian whiskers, serve as electroreceptors. Histological investigations revealed that the vibrissal crypts possess a well-innervated ampullary structure reminiscent of ampullary electroreceptors in other species. Psychophysical experiments with a male Guiana dolphin determined a sensory detection threshold for weak electric fields of 4.6 µV cm(-1), which is comparable to the sensitivity of electroreceptors in platypuses. Our results show that electroreceptors can evolve from a mechanosensory organ that nearly all mammals possess and suggest the discovery of this kind of electroreception in more species, especially those with an aquatic or semi-aquatic lifestyle.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicole U Czech-Damal
- Biocenter Grindel and Zoological Museum, University of Hamburg, Martin-Luther-King-Platz 3, 20146 Hamburg, Germany
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Carrubba S, Frilot C, Chesson AL, Marino AA. Numerical analysis of recurrence plots to detect effect of environmental-strength magnetic fields on human brain electrical activity. Med Eng Phys 2010; 32:898-907. [DOI: 10.1016/j.medengphy.2010.06.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/30/2009] [Revised: 06/15/2010] [Accepted: 06/19/2010] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
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Abstract
Echidna and platypus brains were sectioned and stained by Nissl or myelin stains or immunocytochemically for calcium-binding proteins, gamma aminobutyric acid (GABA) or other antigens. Cyto- and myeloarchitecture revealed thalami that are fundamentally mammalian in organization, with the three principal divisions of the thalamus (epithalamus, dorsal thalamus and ventral thalamus) identifiable as in marsupials and eutherian mammals. The dorsal thalamus exhibits more nuclear parcellation than hitherto described, but lack of an internal medullary lamina, caused by splaying out of afferent fibre tracts that contribute to it in other mammals, makes identification of anterior, medial and intralaminar nuclear groups difficult. Differentiation of the ventral nuclei is evident with the ventral posterior nucleus of the platypus enormously expanded into the interior of the cerebral hemisphere, where it adopts a relationship to the striatum not seen in other mammals. Other nuclei such as the lateral dorsal become identifiable by expression of patterns of calcium-binding proteins identical to those found in other mammals. GABA cells are present in the ventral and dorsal thalamic nuclei, and in the ventral thalamus form a remarkable continuum with GABA cells of the two segments of the globus pallidus and pars reticulata of the substantia nigra.
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Carrubba S, Frilot C, Chesson AL, Marino AA. Evidence of a nonlinear human magnetic sense. Neuroscience 2006; 144:356-67. [PMID: 17069982 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2006.08.068] [Citation(s) in RCA: 48] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/26/2006] [Revised: 07/12/2006] [Accepted: 08/31/2006] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
Abstract
Human subjects respond to low-intensity electric and magnetic fields. If the ability to do so were a form of sensory transduction, one would expect that fields could trigger evoked potentials, as do other sensory stimuli. We tested this hypothesis by examining electroencephalograms from 17 subjects for the presence of evoked potentials caused by the onset and by the offset of 2 G, 60 Hz (a field strength comparable to that in the general environment). Both linear (time averaging) and nonlinear (recurrence analysis) methods of data analysis were employed to permit an assessment of the dynamical nature of the stimulus/response relationship. Using the method of recurrence analysis, magnetosensory evoked potentials (MEPs) in the signals from occipital derivations were found in 16 of the subjects (P<0.05 for each subject). The potentials occurred 109-454 ms after stimulus application, depending on the subject, and were triggered by onset of the field, offset of the field, or both. Using the method of time averaging, no MEPs were detected. MEPs in the signals from the central and parietal electrodes were found in most subjects using recurrence analysis, but no MEPs were detected using time averaging. The occurrence of MEPs in response to a weak magnetic field suggested the existence of a human magnetic sense. In distinction to the evoked potentials ordinarily studied, MEPs were nonlinearly related to the stimulus as evidenced by the need to employ a nonlinear method to detect the responses.
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Affiliation(s)
- S Carrubba
- Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, P.O. Box 33932, 1501 Kings Highway, Shreveport, LA 71130-3932, USA
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Abstract
This is a summary of the current knowledge of sensory receptors in skin of the bill of the platypus, Ornithorhynchus anatinus, and the snout of the echidna, Tachyglossus aculeatus. Brief mention is also made of the third living member of the monotremes, the long-nosed echidna, Zaglossus bruijnii. The monotremes are the only group of mammals known to have evolved electroreception. The structures in the skin responsible for the electric sense have been identified as sensory mucous glands with an expanded epidermal portion that is innervated by large-diameter nerve fibres. Afferent recordings have shown that in both platypuses and echidnas the receptors excited by cathodal (negative) pulses and inhibited by anodal (positive) pulses. Estimates give a total of 40,000 mucous sensory glands in the upper and lower bill of the platypus, whereas there are only about 100 in the tip of the echidna snout. Recording of electroreceptor-evoked activity from the brain of the platypus have shown that the largest area dedicated to somatosensory input from the bill, S1, shows alternating rows of mechanosensory and bimodal neurons. The bimodal neurons respond to both electrosensory and mechanical inputs. In skin of the platypus bill and echidna snout, apart from the electroreceptors, there are structures called push rods, which consist of a column of compacted cells that is able to move relatively independently of adjacent regions of skin. At the base of the column are Merkel cell complexes, known to be type I slowly adapting mechanoreceptors, and lamellated corpuscles, probably vibration receptors. It has been speculated that the platypus uses its electric sense to detect the electromyographic activity from moving prey in the water and for obstacle avoidance. Mechanoreceptors signal contact with the prey. For the echidna, a role for the electrosensory system has not yet been established during normal foraging behaviour, although it has been shown that it is able to detect the presence of weak electric fields in water. Perhaps the electric sense is used to detect moving prey in moist soil.
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Affiliation(s)
- U Proske
- Department of Physiology, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia.
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Manger PR, Collins R, Pettigrew JD. The development of the electroreceptors of the platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus). Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 1998; 353:1171-86. [PMID: 9720113 PMCID: PMC1692303 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.1998.0274] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
A series of developmental stages of the platypus were examined to obtain an anatomical description of the development of the periphery of the electroreceptive system. Putative electroreceptors, composed of modified mucous glands, were observed to appear at 10 days post hatching (p.h.). The typical striped arrangement of peripheral electroreceptors in the platypus was seen at 12 days p.h. The arrangement of the stripes was modified during development with a range of additions and divisions of stripes occurring until the adult pattern is obtained, approximately 6 months p.h. After appearing at 10 days p.h., the number of electroreceptors increases rapidly until sometime between 24 and 28 days p.h. when there is massive death of electroreceptors, the number present at 28 days p.h. being 60% of the number present at 24 days p.h. This massive death of receptors is coincident with the appearance of other sensory structures in the epidermis of the bill skin, the push-rod mechanoreceptors and the sensory serous glands. Histological examination of a range of developmental stages demonstrated poorly differentiated innervation at 28 days p.h., which became differentiated and reached the adult configuration between 11 weeks p.h. and 6 months p.h., the time at which nestling platypuses leave the burrow. Lamination of the cells lining the duct of the electroreceptors showed a similar developmental profile. This study indicates that the electroreceptive system of the developing platypus is not functional, in a similar manner to the adult, until it is time for the platypus to leave the nesting burrow. However, the system may be functional in the developing platypus, and may be used speculatively in the location of the mammary region for suckling.
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Affiliation(s)
- P R Manger
- Vision, Touch and Hearing Research Centre, Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
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Fjällbrant TT, Manger PR, Pettigrew JD. Some related aspects of platypus electroreception: temporal integration behaviour, electroreceptive thresholds and directionality of the bill acting as an antenna. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 1998; 353:1211-9. [PMID: 9720116 PMCID: PMC1692301 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.1998.0277] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
This paper focuses on how the electric field from the prey of the platypus is detected with respect to the questions of threshold determination and how the platypus might localize its prey. A new behaviour in response to electrical stimuli below the thresholds previously reported is presented. The platypus shows a voluntary exploratory behaviour that results from a temporal integration of a number of consecutive stimulus pulses. A theoretical analysis is given, which includes the threshold dependence on the number of receptors and temporal integration of consecutive stimuli pulses, the close relationships between electrical field decay across the bill, electroreceptive thresholds and directionality of the platypus bill acting as an antenna. It is shown that a lobe shape, similar to that which has been measured, can be obtained by combining responses in a specific way from receptors sensing the electric field decay across the bill. Two possible methods for such combinations are discussed and analysed with respect to measurements and observed behaviour of the platypus. A number of factors are described which need to be considered when electroreceptive thresholds are to be determined. It is shown that some information about the distance to the source is theoretically available from the pattern of field decay across the platypus's bill. The paper includes a comparative analysis of radar target tracking and platypus prey localization.
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Affiliation(s)
- T T Fjällbrant
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Linköping University, Sweden.
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Manger PR, Keast JR, Pettigrew JD, Troutt L. Distribution and putative function of autonomic nerve fibres in the bill skin of the platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus). Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 1998; 353:1159-70. [PMID: 9720112 PMCID: PMC1692313 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.1998.0273] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The electroreceptors located in the bill skin of the platypus are modified secretory glands. The electroreceptive nerve terminals form bare endings in close proximity to the duct of these glands. In this study, we describe the autonomic innervation of the glands and a separate specialized autonomic innervation of the epidermal portion of the glandular duct. A range of immunohistochemical labels showed that the gland cells of the electroreceptors have a non-noradrenergic (putative parasympathetic) innervation. Phalloidin labelling revealed a 'sphincter' of epidermal luminal cells that labelled strongly for actin. These actin-dense keratinocytes were seen to have a noradrenergic (putative sympathetic) innervation. Fine-diameter sensory fibres containing substance P (presumably C-fibre thermoreceptors or polymodal nociceptors) were observed to terminate in the superficial epidermis surrounding the pore of the gland. When the bill of the platypus is dry these pores were closed. However, when room temperature water was washed over the bill, the pores opened. It is proposed that this autonomic and sensory innervation, along with the actin sphincter, mediates the opening and closing of the pores. By doing this, the platypus prevents the desiccation of the bare electrosensory nerve terminals when it is out of the water, and it may also be a way to regulate the impedance of the internal electrical circuit presented to the water at the pores.
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Affiliation(s)
- P R Manger
- Vision, Touch and Hearing Research Centre, Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
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Manger PR, Hall LS, Pettigrew JD. The development of the external features of the platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus). Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 1998; 353:1115-25. [PMID: 9720109 PMCID: PMC1692310 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.1998.0270] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The present study describes the post-hatching development of the external features of the platypus. Specimens range in age from the day of hatching through to 6 months old, and provide the first comprehensive view of the developmental sequence of these features. Various features, those specific to the platypus, those specific to monotremes and those shared with marsupials and eutherians, are described. Features specific to the platypus, including the bill and webbing of the forefeet, are seen to develop precociously. Many features show similarities to marsupials, although marsupials show differential development both in timing and in morphology. The developmental progression is related to the age, in days, although the exact age of the specimens is unclear, and relies on ages given to the specimens at the time of collection, sometimes as long as 70 years ago. Despite this, the progression of development of these features suggests that the ageing given is relatively accurate.
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Affiliation(s)
- P R Manger
- Vision, Touch and Hearing Research Centre, Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Queensland, Australia
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P. R. Manger, R. Collins, J. D. Pettigrew. Histological observations on presumed electroreceptors and mechanoreceptors in the beak skin of the long-beaked echidna, Zaglossus bruijnii. Proc Biol Sci 1997; 264. [ DOI: 10.1098/rspb.1997.0024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/27/2023] Open
Abstract
Sensory receptors in the rostral portion of the beak skin of a single specimen of the rare long-beaked echidna, Zaglossus bruijnii , are described. Mucous glands which have been modified to accommodate sensory innervation, similar to those seen in Ornithorhynchus , are found in the rostral 2 cm of the beak skin, anterior to the maxillofacial foramen, at a density of approximately 12/mm2. The papillary epidermal portion of the gland ducts are walled by concentric layers of keratinocytes, and each duct is innervated by 10–15 myelinated nerve terminals. The mucous gland receptors in Zaglossus are intermediate in structure between those of Ornithorhynchus and Tachyglossus , but are similar enough to the former to suggest that electroreception may play a major role in the sensory experience of Zaglossus . Push-rod mechanoreceptors also occur throughout the same region of beak skin, and appear similar to those described for Tachyglossus .
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