Motor Interneurons That Inhibit Sensory Neurons
How do crickets know when they are chirping?
These questions appear to be answered with the discovery of a motor interneuron in the cricket that is resposible for “corallary discharge” or forwarding neural signals from motor systems to sensory systems. By inhibiting auditory neurons during chirping, the animal can “counter the expected, self-generated sensory feedback”.
Over at the synapse blog, it is pointed out that the cerebellum may have this function in vertebrates.