Electroreception in Aquatic Invertebrates

电感受是某些动物的一种特殊感觉能力，可以感知自然环境中极微小的电场。 不到40年前，它在水生脊椎动物中被发现，此后在哺乳动物中也发现了这种特殊的感觉。 然而，它从未在任何无脊椎动物中发现过。 这个项目使用生理学和行为学技术来设计甲壳类动物中存在的电感觉能力的测试。 SGER是这种独特机会的适当机制，因为实验简单明了，虽然PI可能找不到电感受的风险是概念性的，但发现的潜在影响非常高。 这样的发现不仅在为感觉科学开辟一个全新的领域方面具有直接的重要性，而且在为神经科学、进化生物学和潜在的生物工程提供新的概念和方法方面也具有直接的重要性。

Electroreception is a special sensory ability of some animals to detect extremely small electrical fields in the natural environment. It was discovered in aquatic vertebrates less than 40 years ago, and this special sense has since been discovered in mammals. However, it has never been found in any invertebrate. This project uses physiological and behavioral techniques to design tests for the presence of electrosensory capabilities in crustaceans. The SGER is an appropriate mechanism for this unique opportunity because the experiments are brief and straightforward, and while the risk is conceptual that the PI's might not find electroreception, the potential impact of the discovery is very high. Such a discovery would have immediate importance not only in opening an entirely new field for sensory science, but also in offering new concepts and approaches for neuroscience in general, for evolutionary biology and potentially for bioengineering.