Oscillatory Nervous Response and Transient Vibration (Ear of Locusta migratoria Acrididae, Insecta)

Abstract

Abstract The summed action potential (SAP) of the receptor axons in the tympanic nerve is a very regular, often nearly harmonic oscillation around an average level. The oscillation amplitude depends on the slope of the stimulus ramp, whereas the average level of the response is determined by the plateau of the ramp. Earlier hypotheses upon the tympanic SAP do not explain the above findings. Yet the transient solutions of a simple oscillator model reproduce the tympanic oscillations.