1
|
Alexander E, Cai LT, Fuchs S, Hladnik TC, Zhang Y, Subramanian V, Guilbeault NC, Vijayakumar C, Arunachalam M, Juntti SA, Thiele TR, Arrenberg AB, Cooper EA. Optic flow in the natural habitats of zebrafish supports spatial biases in visual self-motion estimation. Curr Biol 2022; 32:5008-5021.e8. [PMID: 36327979 PMCID: PMC9729457 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2022.10.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/23/2022] [Revised: 08/15/2022] [Accepted: 10/05/2022] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Animals benefit from knowing if and how they are moving. Across the animal kingdom, sensory information in the form of optic flow over the visual field is used to estimate self-motion. However, different species exhibit strong spatial biases in how they use optic flow. Here, we show computationally that noisy natural environments favor visual systems that extract spatially biased samples of optic flow when estimating self-motion. The performance associated with these biases, however, depends on interactions between the environment and the animal's brain and behavior. Using the larval zebrafish as a model, we recorded natural optic flow associated with swimming trajectories in the animal's habitat with an omnidirectional camera mounted on a mechanical arm. An analysis of these flow fields suggests that lateral regions of the lower visual field are most informative about swimming speed. This pattern is consistent with the recent findings that zebrafish optomotor responses are preferentially driven by optic flow in the lateral lower visual field, which we extend with behavioral results from a high-resolution spherical arena. Spatial biases in optic-flow sampling are likely pervasive because they are an effective strategy for determining self-motion in noisy natural environments.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Emma Alexander
- Herbert Wertheim School of Optometry & Vision Science, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA,Present address: Department of Computer Science, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA,Lead contact,Correspondence:
| | - Lanya T. Cai
- Herbert Wertheim School of Optometry & Vision Science, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA,Present address: Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
| | - Sabrina Fuchs
- Werner Reichardt Centre for Integrative Neuroscience, Institute of Neurobiology, University of Tubingen, 72076 Tubingen, Germany
| | - Tim C. Hladnik
- Werner Reichardt Centre for Integrative Neuroscience, Institute of Neurobiology, University of Tubingen, 72076 Tubingen, Germany,Graduate Training Centre for Neuroscience, University of Tubingen, 72074 Tubingen, Germany
| | - Yue Zhang
- Werner Reichardt Centre for Integrative Neuroscience, Institute of Neurobiology, University of Tubingen, 72076 Tubingen, Germany,Graduate Training Centre for Neuroscience, University of Tubingen, 72074 Tubingen, Germany,Present address: Department of Cellular and Systems Neurobiology, Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence in Foundation, 82152 Martinsried, Germany
| | - Venkatesh Subramanian
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Toronto Scarborough, Toronto M1C 1A4, Canada
| | - Nicholas C. Guilbeault
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Toronto Scarborough, Toronto M1C 1A4, Canada,Department of Cell and Systems Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto M5S 3G5, Canada
| | - Chinnian Vijayakumar
- Department of Zoology, St. Andrew’s College, Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh 273001, India
| | - Muthukumarasamy Arunachalam
- Department of Zoology, School of Biological Sciences, Central University of Kerala, Kerala 671316, India,Present address: Centre for Inland Fishes and Conservation, St. Andrew’s College, Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh 273001, India
| | - Scott A. Juntti
- Department of Biology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA
| | - Tod R. Thiele
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Toronto Scarborough, Toronto M1C 1A4, Canada,Department of Cell and Systems Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto M5S 3G5, Canada
| | - Aristides B. Arrenberg
- Werner Reichardt Centre for Integrative Neuroscience, Institute of Neurobiology, University of Tubingen, 72076 Tubingen, Germany
| | - Emily A. Cooper
- Herbert Wertheim School of Optometry & Vision Science, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA,Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Alexander E, Cai LT, Fuchs S, Hladnik TC, Zhang Y, Subramanian V, Guilbeault NC, Vijayakumar C, Arunachalam M, Juntti SA, Thiele TR, Arrenberg AB, Cooper EA. Optic flow in the natural habitats of zebrafish supports spatial biases in visual self-motion estimation. Curr Biol 2022. [PMID: 36327979 DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.6604546] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Animals benefit from knowing if and how they are moving. Across the animal kingdom, sensory information in the form of optic flow over the visual field is used to estimate self-motion. However, different species exhibit strong spatial biases in how they use optic flow. Here, we show computationally that noisy natural environments favor visual systems that extract spatially biased samples of optic flow when estimating self-motion. The performance associated with these biases, however, depends on interactions between the environment and the animal's brain and behavior. Using the larval zebrafish as a model, we recorded natural optic flow associated with swimming trajectories in the animal's habitat with an omnidirectional camera mounted on a mechanical arm. An analysis of these flow fields suggests that lateral regions of the lower visual field are most informative about swimming speed. This pattern is consistent with the recent findings that zebrafish optomotor responses are preferentially driven by optic flow in the lateral lower visual field, which we extend with behavioral results from a high-resolution spherical arena. Spatial biases in optic-flow sampling are likely pervasive because they are an effective strategy for determining self-motion in noisy natural environments.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Emma Alexander
- Herbert Wertheim School of Optometry & Vision Science, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
| | - Lanya T Cai
- Herbert Wertheim School of Optometry & Vision Science, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Sabrina Fuchs
- Werner Reichardt Centre for Integrative Neuroscience, Institute of Neurobiology, University of Tubingen, 72076 Tubingen, Germany
| | - Tim C Hladnik
- Werner Reichardt Centre for Integrative Neuroscience, Institute of Neurobiology, University of Tubingen, 72076 Tubingen, Germany; Graduate Training Centre for Neuroscience, University of Tubingen, 72074 Tubingen, Germany
| | - Yue Zhang
- Werner Reichardt Centre for Integrative Neuroscience, Institute of Neurobiology, University of Tubingen, 72076 Tubingen, Germany; Graduate Training Centre for Neuroscience, University of Tubingen, 72074 Tubingen, Germany
| | - Venkatesh Subramanian
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Toronto Scarborough, Toronto M1C 1A4, Canada
| | - Nicholas C Guilbeault
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Toronto Scarborough, Toronto M1C 1A4, Canada; Department of Cell and Systems Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto M5S 3G5, Canada
| | - Chinnian Vijayakumar
- Department of Zoology, St. Andrew's College, Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh 273001, India
| | | | - Scott A Juntti
- Department of Biology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA
| | - Tod R Thiele
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Toronto Scarborough, Toronto M1C 1A4, Canada; Department of Cell and Systems Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto M5S 3G5, Canada
| | - Aristides B Arrenberg
- Werner Reichardt Centre for Integrative Neuroscience, Institute of Neurobiology, University of Tubingen, 72076 Tubingen, Germany
| | - Emily A Cooper
- Herbert Wertheim School of Optometry & Vision Science, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA; Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Alexander E, Cai LT, Fuchs S, Hladnik TC, Zhang Y, Subramanian V, Guilbeault NC, Vijayakumar C, Arunachalam M, Juntti SA, Thiele TR, Arrenberg AB, Cooper EA. Optic flow in the natural habitats of zebrafish supports spatial biases in visual self-motion estimation. Curr Biol 2022. [PMID: 36327979 DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.7120876] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Animals benefit from knowing if and how they are moving. Across the animal kingdom, sensory information in the form of optic flow over the visual field is used to estimate self-motion. However, different species exhibit strong spatial biases in how they use optic flow. Here, we show computationally that noisy natural environments favor visual systems that extract spatially biased samples of optic flow when estimating self-motion. The performance associated with these biases, however, depends on interactions between the environment and the animal's brain and behavior. Using the larval zebrafish as a model, we recorded natural optic flow associated with swimming trajectories in the animal's habitat with an omnidirectional camera mounted on a mechanical arm. An analysis of these flow fields suggests that lateral regions of the lower visual field are most informative about swimming speed. This pattern is consistent with the recent findings that zebrafish optomotor responses are preferentially driven by optic flow in the lateral lower visual field, which we extend with behavioral results from a high-resolution spherical arena. Spatial biases in optic-flow sampling are likely pervasive because they are an effective strategy for determining self-motion in noisy natural environments.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Emma Alexander
- Herbert Wertheim School of Optometry & Vision Science, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
| | - Lanya T Cai
- Herbert Wertheim School of Optometry & Vision Science, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Sabrina Fuchs
- Werner Reichardt Centre for Integrative Neuroscience, Institute of Neurobiology, University of Tubingen, 72076 Tubingen, Germany
| | - Tim C Hladnik
- Werner Reichardt Centre for Integrative Neuroscience, Institute of Neurobiology, University of Tubingen, 72076 Tubingen, Germany; Graduate Training Centre for Neuroscience, University of Tubingen, 72074 Tubingen, Germany
| | - Yue Zhang
- Werner Reichardt Centre for Integrative Neuroscience, Institute of Neurobiology, University of Tubingen, 72076 Tubingen, Germany; Graduate Training Centre for Neuroscience, University of Tubingen, 72074 Tubingen, Germany
| | - Venkatesh Subramanian
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Toronto Scarborough, Toronto M1C 1A4, Canada
| | - Nicholas C Guilbeault
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Toronto Scarborough, Toronto M1C 1A4, Canada; Department of Cell and Systems Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto M5S 3G5, Canada
| | - Chinnian Vijayakumar
- Department of Zoology, St. Andrew's College, Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh 273001, India
| | | | - Scott A Juntti
- Department of Biology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA
| | - Tod R Thiele
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Toronto Scarborough, Toronto M1C 1A4, Canada; Department of Cell and Systems Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto M5S 3G5, Canada
| | - Aristides B Arrenberg
- Werner Reichardt Centre for Integrative Neuroscience, Institute of Neurobiology, University of Tubingen, 72076 Tubingen, Germany
| | - Emily A Cooper
- Herbert Wertheim School of Optometry & Vision Science, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA; Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Tong M, Yu X, Shao J, Shao Z, Li W, Lin W. Automated measuring method based on Machine learning for optomotor response in mice. Neurocomputing 2020. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neucom.2020.08.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
|
5
|
Umeton D, Tarawneh G, Fezza E, Read JC, Rowe C. Pattern and Speed Interact to Hide Moving Prey. Curr Biol 2019; 29:3109-3113.e3. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2019.07.072] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/27/2019] [Revised: 06/27/2019] [Accepted: 07/24/2019] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
|
6
|
Barnatan Y, Tomsic D, Sztarker J. Unidirectional Optomotor Responses and Eye Dominance in Two Species of Crabs. Front Physiol 2019; 10:586. [PMID: 31156462 PMCID: PMC6532708 DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2019.00586] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/18/2019] [Accepted: 04/26/2019] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Animals, from invertebrates to humans, stabilize the panoramic optic flow through compensatory movements of the eyes, the head or the whole body, a behavior known as optomotor response (OR). The same optic flow moved clockwise or anticlockwise elicits equivalent compensatory right or left turning movements, respectively. However, if stimulated monocularly, many animals show a unique effective direction of motion, i.e., a unidirectional OR. This phenomenon has been reported in various species from mammals to birds, reptiles, and amphibious, but among invertebrates, it has only been tested in flies, where the directional sensitivity is opposite to that found in vertebrates. Although OR has been extensively investigated in crabs, directional sensitivity has never been analyzed. Here, we present results of behavioral experiments aimed at exploring the directional sensitivity of the OR in two crab species belonging to different families: the varunid mud crab Neohelice granulata and the ocypode fiddler crab Uca uruguayensis. By using different conditions of visual perception (binocular, left or right monocular) and direction of flow field motion (clockwise, anticlockwise), we found in both species that in monocular conditions, OR is effectively displayed only with progressive (front-to-back) motion stimulation. Binocularly elicited responses were directional insensitive and significantly weaker than monocular responses. These results are coincident with those described in flies and suggest a commonality in the circuit underlying this behavior among arthropods. Additionally, we found the existence of a remarkable eye dominance for the OR, which is associated to the size of the larger claw. This is more evident in the fiddler crab where the difference between the two claws is huge.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Yair Barnatan
- Instituto de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Neurociencias (IFIBYNE) CONICET, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Daniel Tomsic
- Instituto de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Neurociencias (IFIBYNE) CONICET, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina.,Departamento de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Celular Dr. Héctor Maldonado, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Julieta Sztarker
- Instituto de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Neurociencias (IFIBYNE) CONICET, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina.,Departamento de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Celular Dr. Héctor Maldonado, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
Tinker KA, Ottesen EA. The hindgut microbiota of praying mantids is highly variable and includes both prey-associated and host-specific microbes. PLoS One 2018; 13:e0208917. [PMID: 30533025 PMCID: PMC6289422 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0208917] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/01/2018] [Accepted: 11/26/2018] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Praying mantids are predators that consume a wide variety of insects. While the gut microbiome of carnivorous mammals is distinct from that of omnivores and herbivores, the role of the gut microbiome among predatory insects is relatively understudied. Praying mantids are the closest known relatives to termites and cockroaches, which are known for their diverse gut microbiota. However, little is known about the mantid gut microbiota or their importance to host health. In this work, we report the results of a 16S rRNA gene-based study of gut microbiome composition in adults and late-instar larvae of three mantid species. We found that the praying mantis gut microbiome exhibits substantial variation in bacterial diversity and community composition. The hindgut of praying mantids were often dominated by microbes that are present in low abundance or not found in the guts of their insect prey. Future studies will explore the role of these microbes in the digestion of the dietary substrates and/or the degradation of toxins produced by their insect prey.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Kara A. Tinker
- Department of Microbiology, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, United States of America
| | - Elizabeth A. Ottesen
- Department of Microbiology, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, United States of America
- * E-mail:
| |
Collapse
|
8
|
Tarawneh G, Jones L, Nityananda V, Rosner R, Rind C, Read JCA. Apparent Motion Perception in the Praying Mantis: Psychophysics and Modelling. Vision (Basel) 2018; 2:vision2030032. [PMID: 31735895 PMCID: PMC6835859 DOI: 10.3390/vision2030032] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/19/2018] [Revised: 07/23/2018] [Accepted: 08/08/2018] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Simple Summary Computer monitors, smart phone screens, and other forms of digital displays present a series of still images (frames) in which objects are displaced in small steps, tricking us into perceiving smooth motion. This illusion is referred to as “apparent motion”. For motion to be perceived, the magnitude of each displacement step must be smaller than a certain limit, referred to as Dmax. Previous studies have investigated the relationship between this limit and object size in humans and found that the maximum displacement is larger for larger objects than for smaller ones. In this work, we investigated the same relationship in the praying mantis Sphodromantis lineola by presenting them with moving random chequerboard patterns on a computer monitor. Even though motion perception in humans and insects are believed to be explained equally well by the same underlying model, we found that Dmax scales differently with object size in mantids. These results suggest that there may be qualitative differences in how mantids perceive apparent motion compared to humans. Abstract Apparent motion is the perception of motion created by rapidly presenting still frames in which objects are displaced in space. Observers can reliably discriminate the direction of apparent motion when inter-frame object displacement is below a certain limit, Dmax. Earlier studies of motion perception in humans found that Dmax is lower-bounded at around 15 arcmin, and thereafter scales with the size of the spatial elements in the images. Here, we run corresponding experiments in the praying mantis Sphodromantis lineola to investigate how Dmax scales with the element size. We use random moving chequerboard patterns of varying element and displacement step sizes to elicit the optomotor response, a postural stabilization mechanism that causes mantids to lean in the direction of large-field motion. Subsequently, we calculate Dmax as the displacement step size corresponding to a 50% probability of detecting an optomotor response in the same direction as the stimulus. Our main findings are that the mantis Dmax scales roughly as a square-root of element size and that, in contrast to humans, it is not lower-bounded. We present two models to explain these observations: a simple high-level model based on motion energy in the Fourier domain and a more-detailed one based on the Reichardt Detector. The models present complementary intuitive and physiologically-realistic accounts of how Dmax scales with the element size in insects. We conclude that insect motion perception is limited by only a single stage of spatial filtering, reflecting the optics of the compound eye. In contrast, human motion perception reflects a second stage of spatial filtering, at coarser scales than imposed by human optics, likely corresponding to the magnocellular pathway. After this spatial filtering, mantis and human motion perception and Dmax are qualitatively very similar.
Collapse
|
9
|
Tarawneh G, Nityananda V, Rosner R, Errington S, Herbert W, Arranz-Paraíso S, Busby N, Tampin J, Read J, Serrano-Pedraza I. Contrast thresholds reveal different visual masking functions in humans and praying mantises. Biol Open 2018; 7:7/4/bio029439. [PMID: 29700198 PMCID: PMC5936055 DOI: 10.1242/bio.029439] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Recently, we showed a novel property of the Hassenstein–Reichardt detector, namely that insect motion detection can be masked by ‘undetectable’ noise, i.e. visual noise presented at spatial frequencies at which coherently moving gratings do not elicit a response (Tarawneh et al., 2017). That study compared the responses of human and insect motion detectors using different ways of quantifying masking (contrast threshold in humans and masking tuning function in insects). In addition, some adjustments in experimental procedure, such as presenting the stimulus at a short viewing distance, were necessary to elicit a response in insects. These differences offer alternative explanations for the observed difference between human and insect responses to visual motion noise. Here, we report the results of new masking experiments in which we test whether differences in experimental paradigm and stimulus presentation between humans and insects can account for the undetectable noise effect reported earlier. We obtained contrast thresholds at two signal and two noise frequencies in both humans and praying mantises (Sphodromantis lineola), and compared contrast threshold differences when noise has the same versus different spatial frequency as the signal. Furthermore, we investigated whether differences in viewing geometry had any qualitative impact on the results. Consistent with our earlier finding, differences in contrast threshold show that visual noise masks much more effectively when presented at signal spatial frequency in humans (compared to a lower or higher spatial frequency), while in insects, noise is roughly equivalently effective when presented at either the signal spatial frequency or lower (compared to a higher spatial frequency). The characteristic difference between human and insect responses was unaffected by correcting for the stimulus distortion caused by short viewing distances in insects. These findings constitute stronger evidence that the undetectable noise effect reported earlier is a genuine difference between human and insect motion processing, and not an artefact caused by differences in experimental paradigms. Summary: We investigate alternative explanations for a reported difference between human and insect responses to masked moving gratings, and demonstrate that it is a genuine feature of their visual systems.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ghaith Tarawneh
- Institute of Neuroscience, Henry Wellcome Building for Neuroecology, Newcastle University, Framlington Place, Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE2 4HH, UK
| | - Vivek Nityananda
- Institute of Neuroscience, Henry Wellcome Building for Neuroecology, Newcastle University, Framlington Place, Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE2 4HH, UK
| | - Ronny Rosner
- Institute of Neuroscience, Henry Wellcome Building for Neuroecology, Newcastle University, Framlington Place, Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE2 4HH, UK
| | - Steven Errington
- Institute of Neuroscience, Henry Wellcome Building for Neuroecology, Newcastle University, Framlington Place, Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE2 4HH, UK
| | - William Herbert
- Institute of Neuroscience, Henry Wellcome Building for Neuroecology, Newcastle University, Framlington Place, Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE2 4HH, UK
| | | | - Natalie Busby
- Institute of Neuroscience, Henry Wellcome Building for Neuroecology, Newcastle University, Framlington Place, Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE2 4HH, UK
| | - Jimmy Tampin
- Institute of Neuroscience, Henry Wellcome Building for Neuroecology, Newcastle University, Framlington Place, Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE2 4HH, UK
| | - Jenny Read
- Institute of Neuroscience, Henry Wellcome Building for Neuroecology, Newcastle University, Framlington Place, Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE2 4HH, UK
| | | |
Collapse
|
10
|
Nityananda V, Tarawneh G, Henriksen S, Umeton D, Simmons A, Read JCA. A Novel Form of Stereo Vision in the Praying Mantis. Curr Biol 2018; 28:588-593.e4. [PMID: 29429616 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2018.01.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2017] [Revised: 12/14/2017] [Accepted: 01/04/2018] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
Stereopsis is the ability to estimate distance based on the different views seen in the two eyes [1-5]. It is an important model perceptual system in neuroscience and a major area of machine vision. Mammalian, avian, and almost all machine stereo algorithms look for similarities between the luminance-defined images in the two eyes, using a series of computations to produce a map showing how depth varies across the scene [3, 4, 6-14]. Stereopsis has also evolved in at least one invertebrate, the praying mantis [15-17]. Mantis stereopsis is presumed to be simpler than vertebrates' [15, 18], but little is currently known about the underlying computations. Here, we show that mantis stereopsis uses a fundamentally different computational algorithm from vertebrate stereopsis-rather than comparing luminance in the two eyes' images directly, mantis stereopsis looks for regions of the images where luminance is changing. Thus, while there is no evidence that mantis stereopsis works at all with static images, it successfully reveals the distance to a moving target even in complex visual scenes with targets that are perfectly camouflaged against the background in terms of texture. Strikingly, these insects outperform human observers at judging stereoscopic distance when the pattern of luminance in the two eyes does not match. Insect stereopsis has thus evolved to be computationally efficient while being robust to poor image resolution and to discrepancies in the pattern of luminance between the two eyes. VIDEO ABSTRACT.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Vivek Nityananda
- Institute of Neuroscience, Henry Wellcome Building, Newcastle University, Framlington Place, Newcastle upon Tyne NE2 4HH, UK.
| | - Ghaith Tarawneh
- Institute of Neuroscience, Henry Wellcome Building, Newcastle University, Framlington Place, Newcastle upon Tyne NE2 4HH, UK
| | - Sid Henriksen
- Institute of Neuroscience, Henry Wellcome Building, Newcastle University, Framlington Place, Newcastle upon Tyne NE2 4HH, UK
| | - Diana Umeton
- Institute of Neuroscience, Henry Wellcome Building, Newcastle University, Framlington Place, Newcastle upon Tyne NE2 4HH, UK
| | - Adam Simmons
- Institute of Neuroscience, Henry Wellcome Building, Newcastle University, Framlington Place, Newcastle upon Tyne NE2 4HH, UK
| | - Jenny C A Read
- Institute of Neuroscience, Henry Wellcome Building, Newcastle University, Framlington Place, Newcastle upon Tyne NE2 4HH, UK
| |
Collapse
|
11
|
Tarawneh G, Nityananda V, Rosner R, Errington S, Herbert W, Cumming BG, Read JCA, Serrano-Pedraza I. Invisible noise obscures visible signal in insect motion detection. Sci Rep 2017; 7:3496. [PMID: 28615659 PMCID: PMC5471215 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-03732-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/30/2017] [Accepted: 05/03/2017] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
The motion energy model is the standard account of motion detection in animals from beetles to humans. Despite this common basis, we show here that a difference in the early stages of visual processing between mammals and insects leads this model to make radically different behavioural predictions. In insects, early filtering is spatially lowpass, which makes the surprising prediction that motion detection can be impaired by "invisible" noise, i.e. noise at a spatial frequency that elicits no response when presented on its own as a signal. We confirm this prediction using the optomotor response of praying mantis Sphodromantis lineola. This does not occur in mammals, where spatially bandpass early filtering means that linear systems techniques, such as deriving channel sensitivity from masking functions, remain approximately valid. Counter-intuitive effects such as masking by invisible noise may occur in neural circuits wherever a nonlinearity is followed by a difference operation.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ghaith Tarawneh
- Institute of Neuroscience, Henry Wellcome Building for Neuroecology, Newcastle University, Framlington Place, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE2 4HH, United Kingdom.
| | - Vivek Nityananda
- Institute of Neuroscience, Henry Wellcome Building for Neuroecology, Newcastle University, Framlington Place, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE2 4HH, United Kingdom
| | - Ronny Rosner
- Institute of Neuroscience, Henry Wellcome Building for Neuroecology, Newcastle University, Framlington Place, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE2 4HH, United Kingdom
| | - Steven Errington
- Institute of Neuroscience, Henry Wellcome Building for Neuroecology, Newcastle University, Framlington Place, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE2 4HH, United Kingdom
| | - William Herbert
- Institute of Neuroscience, Henry Wellcome Building for Neuroecology, Newcastle University, Framlington Place, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE2 4HH, United Kingdom
| | - Bruce G Cumming
- Laboratory of Sensorimotor Research, National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bldg 49 Room 2A50, Bethesda, MD, 20892-4435, USA
| | - Jenny C A Read
- Institute of Neuroscience, Henry Wellcome Building for Neuroecology, Newcastle University, Framlington Place, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE2 4HH, United Kingdom
| | | |
Collapse
|