Motion parallax in electric sensing
Motion parallax in electric sensing
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DOI：
10.1073/pnas.1712380115
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发表时间：
2018-01-16
影响因子：
11.1
通讯作者：
Lewis, John E.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Pedraja, Federico;Hofmann, Volker;Lewis, John E.
形成环境的空间表示的关键步骤涉及相对距离的估计。通过特定动作的主动采样被认为是优化感官流，使距离线索的提取至关重要。然而，在电感测中，感觉流的产生和利用的直接证据是缺乏的。弱电鱼依靠自生电场在黑暗中导航和捕获猎物。这种电感觉提供了对环境的模糊表示，使电鱼的精致感官能力成为谜。刻板的来回游泳模式让人联想到视觉凝视运动，这暗示了感觉流的积极产生，但运动如何有助于消除电感觉世界的歧义仍不清楚。在这里，我们表明，偶极状电场的几何形状耦合到运动提供了一个非视觉视差的物理基础。然后，我们表明，在一个行为分析，这种线索是用于电距离感知跨遗传学远类群的弱电鱼。值得注意的是，这些物种以时间上不同的方式（使用离散脉冲或准正弦波）对环境进行电采样，这表明视差在电感测中的普遍作用。我们的研究结果表明，电感觉信息是从感觉流中提取的，并用于行为相关的上下文中。更好地理解基于运动的电感测将提供对一般主动感测所需的感觉运动协调的洞察，并可能导致在各种情况下改进基于电场的成像应用。
A crucial step in forming spatial representations of the environment involves the estimation of relative distance. Active sampling through specific movements is considered essential for optimizing the sensory flow that enables the extraction of distance cues. However, in electric sensing, direct evidence for the generation and exploitation of sensory flow is lacking. Weakly electric fish rely on a self-generated electric field to navigate and capture prey in the dark. This electric sense provides a blurred representation of the environment, making the exquisite sensory abilities of electric fish enigmatic. Stereotyped back-and-forth swimming patterns reminiscent of visual peering movements are suggestive of the active generation of sensory flow, but how motion contributes to the disambiguation of the electrosensory world remains unclear. Here, we show that a dipole-like electric field geometry coupled to motion provides the physical basis for a nonvisual parallax. We then show in a behavioral assay that this cue is used for electrosensory distance perception across phylogenetically distant taxa of weakly electric fish. Notably, these species electrically sample the environment in temporally distinct ways (using discrete pulses or quasisinusoidal waves), suggesting a ubiquitous role for parallax in electric sensing. Our results demonstrate that electrosensory information is extracted from sensory flow and used in a behaviorally relevant context. A better understanding of motion-based electric sensing will provide insight into the sensorimotor coordination required for active sensing in general and may lead to improved electric field-based imaging applications in a variety of contexts.