International Research Fellowship Program: Sensory Integration and the Evolution of Multimodal Communication in Jumping Spiders

国际研究奖学金计划使美国科学家和工程师能够在国外进行三到二十四个月的研究。该项目的奖项提供了联合研究的机会，并利用国外独特或互补的设施、专业知识和实验条件。该奖项将支持达米安·O·埃利亚斯博士与多伦多大学的安德鲁·C·梅森博士和加拿大不列颠哥伦比亚大学的韦恩·P·麦迪森博士合作的为期22个月的研究奖学金。来自多个感官输入的信息必须整合到神经系统中，才能使有机体在其环境中导航。感觉整合的神经机制已经进化到反映竞争刺激的适应性意义，因此解释感觉整合需要对行为反应的功能有深入的了解。PI和他的东道主将利用行为学、系统发育和信息论技术研究哈布罗纳特蜘蛛属跳蛛的多模式交流。多通道交流(使用两个或多个感觉通道的交流)代表了多感觉整合可以与特定的行为功能清楚地联系在一起的背景，因此为研究感觉整合提供了一个理想的系统。研究多模式通信的发展将提供对驱动多个输入整合的过程的洞察，这反过来将指导神经功能的分析，以揭示潜在的感觉整合和沟通的基本机制。他们正在研究不同物种的哈布罗纳特人之间的交流，这些人在雄性求偶展示中使用不同程度的多模式信号。配偶选择实验与男性信号的定量测量一起，使他们能够评估现有的关于功能、多模式信号的假设，从而评估特定感觉整合机制的意义。利用系统发育技术和计算模型，他们正在经验性地检验关于更大的信号复杂性进化的假设，以及检验更大的信号复杂性会导致更快的物种多样化的假设。这个项目可以在描述通信系统的复杂性、理解系统在性选择中的作用以及理解可能增加系统复杂性的进化压力之间架起一座桥梁。

0502239EliasThe International Research Fellowship Program enables U.S. scientists and engineers to conduct three to twenty-four months of research abroad. The program's awards provide opportunities for joint research, and the use of unique or complementary facilities, expertise and experimental conditions abroad.This award will support a twenty-two-month research fellowship by Dr. Damian O. Elias to work with Dr. Andrew C. Mason at the University of Toronto and with Dr. Wayne P. Maddison at the University of British Columbia, in Canada.The complexity of natural environments presents an overwhelming diversity of potential stimuli. Information from multiple sensory inputs must be integrated within the nervous system in order for an organism to navigate its environment. Neural mechanisms of sensory integration have evolved to reflect the adaptive significance of competing stimuli, and explaining sensory integration therefore requires a thorough understanding of the function of behavioral responses. The PI and his hosts will study multimodal communication in jumping spiders of the genus Habronattus using behavioral, phylogenetic and information theoretic techniques. Multimodal communication (communication using two or more sensory modalities) represents a context in which multi-sensory integration can be clearly linked with a specific behavioral function, and therefore provides an ideal system to study sensory integration. Studying the evolution of multimodal communication will provide insights into the processes that drive the integration of multiple inputs which will, in turn, guide the analysis of neural function to uncover fundamental mechanisms underlying sensory integration and communication. They are studying communication in different species of Habronattus that use multimodal signaling to varying degrees in male courtship displays. Mate choice experiments along with quantitative measurements of male signals allow them to evaluate existing hypotheses on the function multimodal signals and therefore the significance of specific mechanisms of sensory integration. Using phylogenetic techniques and computational models they are empirically testing hypotheses on the evolution of greater signal complexity as well as testing the hypothesis that greater signal complexity leads to more rapid species diversification. This project can bridge the gap between describing the complexity of a communication system, understanding the system's role in sexual selection and understanding the evolutionary pressures that may increase system complexity.