So the researchers did their Cornell neuron observations on a table protected from vibrations. The claps didnвЂ™t seem earthshaking, but the spiderвЂ™s brain registered clapping even when they had backed out into the hallway, laughing with surprise.Д¬lapping or other test sounds in theory might confound the experiment by sending vibrations not just through the air but through equipment holding the spider. When Menda first realized the spider brain reacted to a chair squeak, he and Paul Shamble, a study coauthor now at Harvard University, started clapping hands, backing away from the spider and clapping again. SCARY NOISES In a test of hearing airborne noises, a small dark jumping spider stops moving abruptly (red pointer appears) when researchers broadcast a tone similar to the scary droning of the wings of a predatory wasp.

He listens his way along, one slight nudge of the probe at a time toward the auditory regions, as the probe monitorвЂ™s faint popping sounds grow louder. Jumping spiders have brains about the size of a poppy seed, and Hoy credits the success of probing even tinier spots inside these (anesthetized) brains to Cornell coauthor Gil Menda and his rock-steady hands.

In an instant, the spiders hunkered down motionless, the researchers report online October 13 in Current Biology.

In a hearing test based on behavior, the spiders also clearly noticed when researchers broadcast a low droning like the wing sound of an approaching predatory wasp. Systematic experiments then showed that from several meters away, spiders were able to detect relatively quiet tones at levels comparable to human conversation. During early sessions of brain recordings, HoyвЂ™s colleagues saw bursts of nerve cell, or neuron, activity when a chair moved.

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