Recording Sound-Evoked Potentials from the Drosophila Antennal Nerve

INTRODUCTION

Information about an animal's social and ecological environment takes many forms, several of which can be sensed as mechanical signals. The mechanosensory world of a fly such as Drosophila melanogaster is especially complex, and the transduction of signals involves a diverse set of specialized sense organs. Near-field sounds, such as the male courtship song, are transduced by sensory units in Johnston's organ (JO), which is the chordotonal organ in the Drosophila antennae. This article describes a protocol for recording extracellular potentials in the antennal nerve that occur in response to near-field acoustic signals generated electronically to mimic courtship songs. These recordings represent the combined action potentials of many or perhaps even all of the responding JO sensory neurons whose axons project along the antennal nerve en route to the antennal mechanosensory and motor center (AMMC).