LX12269
- Male moths can sense and locate females releasing sex pheromones from more than a mile away. This involves the male working on pheromone concentrations across several orders of magnitude - from very small concentration when they are far away to large concentrations on their final approach. It has recently been suggested that this kind of sensory dynamic range can arise in brain networks if their dynamics are close to a critical point analogous with a phase transition in physics (e.g. between solid and liquid). In our paper we describe how such a critical point could arise in, and explain the dynamic range of, the inhibitory neurons that lie at the base of the male moths antennae (the invertebrate equivalent of a nose). Interestingly this large dynamic range in the response to pheromones disappears when the male moth has mated or as a natural part of their diurnal rhythms. Consequently our work really does suggest that the brains of sexually motivated virgin male moths are literally "on the edge" when searching for females.
