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Cited by 112Fish biology, ecology, and behaviorPlant and Biological Electrophysiology StudiesBiomimetic flight and propulsion mechanisms

Omnidirectional sensory and motor volumes in electric fish

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Snyder, James B, Nelson, Mark E, Burdick, Joel W, MacIver, Malcolm A·2007·PLoS Biology
DOI 10.1371/journal.pbio.0050301PMC PMC2071945
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Abstract

Active sensing organisms, such as bats, dolphins, and weakly electric fish, generate a 3-D space for active sensation by emitting self-generated energy into the environment. For a weakly electric fish, we demonstrate that the electrosensory space for prey detection has an unusual, omnidirectional shape. We compare this sensory volume with the animal's motor volume--the volume swept out by the body over selected time intervals and over the time it takes to come to a stop from typical hunting velocities. We find that the motor volume has a similar omnidirectional shape, which can be attributed to the fish's backward-swimming capabilities and body dynamics. We assessed the electrosensory space for prey detection by analyzing simulated changes in spiking activity of primary electrosensory afferents during empirically measured and synthetic prey capture trials. The animal's motor volume was reconstructed from video recordings of body motion during prey capture behavior. Our results suggest that in weakly electric fish, there is a close connection between the shape of the sensory and motor volumes. We consider three general spatial relationships between 3-D sensory and motor volumes in active and passive-sensing animals, and we examine hypotheses about these relationships in the context of the volumes we quantify for weakly electric fish. We propose that the ratio of the sensory volume to the motor volume provides insight into behavioral control strategies across all animals.

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  • The distinction between wide-field and narrow-field distortions was not fully understood until prey capture behavior was automatically tracked in three dimensions and empirically validated models were used to compute the neuronal signal going to the brain over the course of prey capture behavior.

    “This was not fully understood until prey capture behavior was automatically tracked in three dimensions, and then an entire suite of empirically validated models was used to compute the neuronal signal going to the brain over the course of prey capture behavior (MacIver et al., 2001;Nelson and MacIver, 1999;Snyder et al., 2007).”

    From Neuroscience Needs Behavior: Correcting a Reductionist Bias (2017) · cites this paper as Snyder et al., 2007

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  1. Bastian J 1986 Electrolocation: behavior, anatomy, and physiology Bullock TH Heiligenberg W Electroreception New York Wiley 577 612

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Authors
Snyder, J. B., Nelson, M. E., Burdick, J. W., & MacIver, M. A.
Affiliations
  • Northwestern University (US)
  • University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (US)
  • California Institute of Technology (US)
Corresponding author
MacIver, Malcolm A
ORCID
Venue
PLoS Biology
Publisher
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Published
2007-11-13
Volume
5
Issue
11
Pages
e301
ISSN
  • 1544-9173 (ISSN-L)
  • 1545-7885
DOI
10.1371/journal.pbio.0050301
PMC
PMC2071945
OpenAlex
W2148429387
Cited by
112
References
55
Citations by year
2026: 4 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 11 · 2023: 11 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 7 · 2016: 5 · 2015: 3 · 2014: 5 · 2013: 12 · 2012: 8
FWCI
5.13
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • PLoS Biology (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • CaltechAUTHORS (California Institute of Technology) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
Funders
  • National Science Foundation (0422073, 9402726, 0517683)
  • Chicago Community Trust
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Nature and Landscape Conservation › Fish biology, ecology, and behavior
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Plant Science › Plant and Biological Electrophysiology Studies
  • Physical Sciences › Engineering › Aerospace Engineering › Biomimetic flight and propulsion mechanisms
Keywords
weakly electric fish, omnidirectional sensing, active sensing, prey detection, prey capture, backward swimming, body dynamics, sensorimotor interaction
MeSH terms
Animals, Electric Fish, Electric Organ, Motion Perception, Motor Activity, Predatory Behavior, Space Perception, Videotape Recording

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