Mind the gap: the minimal detectable separation distance between two objects during active electrolocation

Central connections of the trigeminal motor command system in the weakly electric Elephantnose fish (Gnathonemus petersii)

The highly mobile chin appendage of Gnathonemus petersii, the Schnauzenorgan, is used to actively probe the environment and is known to be a fovea of the electrosensory system. It receives an important innervation from both the trigeminal sensory and motor systems. However, little is known about the premotor control pathways that coordinate the movements of the Schnauzenorgan, or about central pathways originating from the trigeminal motor nucleus. The present study focuses on the central connections of the trigeminal motor system to elucidate premotor centers controlling Schnauzenorgan movements, with particular interest in the possible connections between the electrosensory and trigeminal systems. Neurotracer injections into the trigeminal motor nucleus revealed bilateral, reciprocal connections between the two trigeminal motor nuclei and between the trigeminal sensory and motor nuclei by bilateral labeling of cells and terminals. Prominent afferent input to the trigeminal motor nucleus originates from the nucleus lateralis valvulae, the nucleus dorsalis mesencephali, the cerebellar corpus C1, the reticular formation, and the Raphe nuclei. Retrogradely labeled cells were also observed in the central pretectal nucleus, the dorsal anterior pretectal nucleus, the tectum, the ventroposterior nucleus of the torus semicircularis, the gustatory sensory and motor nuclei, and in the hypothalamus. Labeled terminals, but not cell bodies, were observed in the nucleus lateralis valvulae and the reticular formation. No direct connections were found between the electrosensory system and the V motor nucleus but the central connections identified would provide several multisynaptic pathways linking these two systems, including possible efference copy and corollary discharge mechanisms.

Computational modeling of electric imaging in weakly electric fish: insights for physiology, behavior and evolution

Weakly electric fish can sense electric signals produced by other animals whether they are conspecifics, preys or predators. These signals, sensed by passive electroreception, sustain electrocommunication, mating and agonistic behavior. Weakly electric fish can also generate a weak electrical discharge with which they can actively sense the animate and inanimate objects in their surroundings. Understanding both sensory modalities depends on our knowledge of how pre-receptorial electric images are formed and how movements modify them during behavior. The inability of effectively measuring pre-receptorial fields at the level of the skin contrasts with the amount of knowledge on electric fields and the availability of computational methods for estimating them. In this work we review past work on modeling of electric organ discharge and electric images, showing the usefulness of these methods to calculate the field and providing a brief explanation of their principles. In addition, we focus on recent work demonstrating the potential of electric image modeling and what the method has to offer for experimentalists studying sensory physiology, behavior and evolution.

Motor patterns during active electrosensory acquisition

Motor patterns displayed during active electrosensory acquisition of information seem to be an essential part of a sensory strategy by which weakly electric fish actively generate and shape sensory flow. These active sensing strategies are expected to adaptively optimize ongoing behavior with respect to either motor efficiency or sensory information gained. The tight link between the motor domain and sensory perception in active electrolocation make weakly electric fish like Gnathonemus petersii an ideal system for studying sensory-motor interactions in the form of active sensing strategies. Analyzing the movements and electric signals of solitary fish during unrestrained exploration of objects in the dark, we here present the first formal quantification of motor patterns used by fish during electrolocation. Based on a cluster analysis of the kinematic values we categorized the basic units of motion. These were then analyzed for their associative grouping to identify and extract short coherent chains of behavior. This enabled the description of sensory behavior on different levels of complexity: from single movements, over short behaviors to more complex behavioral sequences during which the kinematics alter between different behaviors. We present detailed data for three classified patterns and provide evidence that these can be considered as motor components of active sensing strategies. In accordance with the idea of active sensing strategies, we found categorical motor patterns to be modified by the sensory context. In addition these motor patterns were linked with changes in the temporal sampling in form of differing electric organ discharge frequencies and differing spatial distributions. The ability to detect such strategies quantitatively will allow future research to investigate the impact of such behaviors on sensing.

Sensory flow shaped by active sensing: sensorimotor strategies in electric fish

Goal-directed behavior in most cases is composed of a sequential order of elementary motor patterns shaped by sensorimotor contingencies. The sensory information acquired thus is structured in both space and time. Here we review the role of motion during the generation of sensory flow focusing on how animals actively shape information by behavioral strategies. We use the well-studied examples of vision in insects and echolocation in bats to describe commonalities of sensory-related behavioral strategies across sensory systems, and evaluate what is currently known about comparable active sensing strategies in electroreception of electric fish. In this sensory system the sensors are dispersed across the animal's body and the carrier source emitting energy used for sensing, the electric organ, is moved while the animal moves. Thus ego-motions strongly influence sensory dynamics. We present, for the first time, data of electric flow during natural probing behavior in Gnathonemus petersii (Mormyridae), which provide evidence for this influence. These data reveal a complex interdependency between the physical input to the receptors and the animal's movements, posture and objects in its environment. Although research on spatiotemporal dynamics in electrolocation is still in its infancy, the emerging field of dynamical sensory systems analysis in electric fish is a promising approach to the study of the link between movement and acquisition of sensory information.

On the haptic nature of the active electric sense of fish

Electroreception is a sensory modality present in chondrichthyes, actinopterygii, amphibians, and mammalian monotremes. The study of this non-intuitive sensory modality has provided insights for better understanding of sensory systems in general and inspired the development of innovative artificial devices. Here we review evidence obtained from the analysis of electrosensory images, neurophysiological data from the recording of unitary activity in the electrosensory lobe, and psychophysical data from analysis of novelty responses provoked in well-defined stimulus conditions, which all confirm that active electroreception has a short range, and that the influence of exploratory movements on object identification is strong. In active electric images two components can be identified: a "global" image profile depending on the volume, shape and global impedance of an object and a "texture" component depending on its surface attributes. There is a short range of the active electric sense and the progressive "blurring" of object image with distance. Consequently, the lack of precision regarding object location, considered together, challenge the current view of this sense as serving long range electrolocation and the commonly used metaphor of "electric vision". In fact, the active electric sense shares more commonalities with human active touch than with teleceptive senses as vision or audition. Taking into account that other skin exteroceptors and proprioception may be congruently stimulated during fish exploratory movements we propose that electric, mechanoceptive and proprioceptive sensory modalities found in electric fish could be considered together as a single haptic sensory system. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled Neural Coding 2012.