Insect Chordotonal Organs: Nanodetectors of the Future?

昆虫は地球上で最も繁栄している生物で、脊椎動物とは異なるユニークな感覚器(センサー)を持っています。とりわけ体内にある関節運動、振動や音をモニターするセンサー(chordotonal organ)はナノスケールの刺激に応じる高感度センサーとして興味を集めています。Field教授はこのセンサーの生理・形態学的研究の世界的な権威で、近年多くのレビューを発表されています。本講演ではこの基本構造、力学的特性およびロボティックスへの応用や学際研究への発展可能性についてわかりやすく発表して頂きます。ナノバイオ研究に興味を持っておられる方を含め、多くの方々の御来聴をお待ちしております。

Insects, and arthropods in general, are the most abundant species of animals on Earth.

Their great success is often based upon unique features of morphology or physiology. One unique feature is a kind of internal mechanoreceptor which detects movement and position of all the joints in the body and limbs. These receptors are called chordotonal organs. They are found in no other kind of animal, yet they are universally used in arthropods to perform proprioceptive tasks. They are modified into many variations to measure joint position, velocity, acceleration and direction of movement, detect sound and to detect tiny surface vibrations of substrate.

In my talk I will discuss what we have learned about these fascinating mechanoreceptors, and what further information we would like to know.

• I will review the complex ultrastructural features revealed by transmission electron microscopy.
• I will discuss what little we know about the electrical responses of chordotonal organs, and what we don’t know.
• I will then discuss how the functional morphology of chordotonal organs plays a crucial role in their response properties.

Finally I want to explore whether there are principles of operation, or structural organization, that could be of interest to engineers. Applications include soft materials sensory feedback in humanoid robots, prosthetic limbs for humans and high-compliance smart materials and textiles.