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Professor Daniel Robert

Photo of Professor Daniel Robert

Professor Daniel Robert


University of Bristol, Woodland Road, Bristol
BS8 1UG
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d.robert@bristol.ac.uk

Telephone Number (0117) 928 7484
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Organisations

School of Biological Sciences

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Bionanoscience

Research overview

Using insects as model systems, our research contributes to understanding the foundations of the sense of audition. Audition is investigated at multiple levels, from the molecular basis of mechanoreception to the psychophysics of auditory behaviour. The themes thus far have pertained to auditory directional sensitivity, auditory-guided behaviour, nanometre-range sensitivity, frequency selectivity, and the process of active auditory mechanics.

Male mosquitoes use their antennae to detect the minute air-borne vibrations that ensue from the wingbeats of conspecific females. Biomechanical and neurophysiological measurements have shown that the mosquito's auditory system, endowed with a threshold of about 5 nanometres, is one of the most sensitive mechanoreceptor organs thus far described in animals.

Remarkably, such exquisite sensitivity has been shown to be supported by an active physiological process that is in full agreement with the key operational criteria of active sensation uncovered in vertebrates. Active sensation, the process by which sensory organs actively contribute to the mechano-electrical conversion of information, is therefore now studied in insects. Insects constitute precious model systems for such studies due to their biological diversity, small size, surgical accessibility and amenability to genetic dissection.

Key words

Insects, flies, scanning laser Doppler vibrometry

Key findings

  • Acoustic space perception in insects
  • Micro and nanomechanics of microscale auditory systems
  • Nanomechanics of acoustic sensors: from insect ears to silicon cantilevers

Diseases related to this field of research

Deafness, spatial orientation, acoustic perception, cellular mechanisms

Processes and functions relevant to this work

Acoustic space perception, mechanoreception, nanomechanics, cellular motors, hearing

Techniques in routine use

Vibration analysis of small samples, acoustic and mechanical actuation

Equipment in routine use

Three-dimensional video tracking, microscanning laser Doppler vibrometry electrophysiology

Collaborations

Interdisciplinary Research collaboration in Nanotechnology (Cambridge-UCL-Bristol)

Teaching

Sensory Ecology - how organisms acquire information from their environment.

Public engagement

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Latest publications

  1. see Mhatre, N, Fernando Montealegre-Z, Rohini Balakrishnan & Robert, D. 'Changing resonator geometry to boost sound power decouples size and song frequency in a small insect', Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, (pp. -), 2012. 10.1073/pnas.1200192109
  2. see Montealegre-Z, F & Robert, D. 'Wing stridulation in a Jurassic katydid (Insecta, Orthoptera) produced low-pitched musical calls to attract females', by Jun-Jie Gu, Fernando Montealegre-Z*, Daniel Robert, Michael S. Engel, Ge-Xia Qiao, and Dong Ren. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA, 109, (pp. 3868-3873), 2012. 10.1073/pnas.1118372109/
  3. see Montealegre-Z, F & Robert, D. 'Mechanical filtering for narrow-band hearing in the weta', by Lomas K., Montealegre-Z, F., Field, L.H, Parsons, S. & Robert, D. Journal of Experimental Biology, 214, (pp. 778-785), 2011. 10.1242/jeb.050187
  4. see Mhatre, N, Monisha Bhattacharya, Robert, D & Rohini Balakrishnan. 'Matching sender and receiver: poikilothermy and frequency tuning in a tree cricket', Journal of Experimental Biology, 214, (pp. 2569-2578), 2011. 10.1242/?jeb.057612
  5. see Montealegre-Z, F, Jonsson, T & Robert, D. 'Sound radiation and wing mechanics in stridulating field crickets (Orthoptera: Gryllidae)', The Journal of Experimental Biology, 214, (pp. 2105-2117), 2011. 10.1242/jeb.056283
  6. see ter Hofstede, HM, Goerlitz, HR, Montealegre Zapata, F, Robert, D & Holderied, MW. 'Tympanal mechanics and neural responses in the ears of a noctuid moth', Naturwissenschaften, 98(12), (pp. 1057-1061), 2011. 10.1007/s00114-011-0851-7
  7. see Montealegre-Z, F & Robert, D. 'Sound radiation and wing mechanics in stridulating field crickets (Orthoptera: Gryllidae)', by Montealegre-Z, F., Jonsson T., & Robert, D. Journal of Experimental Biology, 214, (pp. 2105-2105-2117), 2011. 10.1242/jeb.056283
  8. see Avitabile, D, Homer, ME, Jackson, JC, Robert, D & Champneys, AR. 'Modelling the Active Hearing Process in Mosquitoes', in Christopher A. Shera and Elizabeth S. Olson (Eds.), What Fire is in Mine Ears: Progress in Auditory Biomechanics, (pp. 447-452), American Institute of Physics, 2011. ISBN: 9780735409750 http://link.aip.org/link/?APCPCS/1403/447/1
  9. see Avitabile, D, Homer, ME, Champneys, AR, Jackson, J. C. & Robert, D. 'Mathematical modelling of the active hearing process in mosquitoes', Journal of the Royal Society Interface, 7 Issue 42, (pp. 105-122), 2010. ISSN: 1742-5689 10.1098/rsif.2009.0091
  10. see Robert, D, Mhatre, N & Mcdonagh, TRN. 'The small and smart sensors of insect auditory systems', Sensors, 2010 IEEE, Hawai, IEEE SENSORS 2010 Conference, (pp. 2208-2211), 2010. 10.1109/ICSENS.2010.5690624

Full publications list in the University of Bristol publications system

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