Sensory subsystems in jumping spiders

动物从不同的感觉器官接收有关环境的信息，它们必须评估和整合这些输入，以便做出行为决定。跳蛛有四对眼睛，专门用于不同的功能，使它们成为研究这种整合的有用模型。它们独特的主眼功能就像长焦镜头，具有非常高的分辨率。视网膜很小，但可以通过可移动的眼管指向不同的刺激。不太复杂的第二眼专门用于检测运动。在这项研究中，每种眼睛的详细功能将首先通过掩蔽眼睛和测量蜘蛛对猎物视频图像等刺激的反应来研究。研究人员还将建立一个创新的眼动仪来监测和测量主眼的运动。接下来，研究人员将研究眼睛如何相互作用，以及蜘蛛如何整合来自每种眼睛类型的视觉信息。两种蜘蛛物种的比较，每种都具有相同的眼睛排列，但行为模式截然不同，将提供如何为不同目的修改这个基本系统的例子。研究结果将揭示感知系统中的专门单位如何共同发挥作用，以提供可以由微小大脑分析的信息。此外，研究结果将对机器人设计产生影响。该项目将为一名博士后研究员、一名研究生和许多本科生提供支持，并将加强国际合作。结果将通过与美国蜘蛛学会协调的网站传达给外行观众。

Animals receive information about the environment from different sense organs, and they must evaluate and integrate these inputs in order to make behavioral decisions. Jumping spiders have four pairs of eyes specialized for different functions, making them useful models for studying this type of integration. Their unique principal eyes function like telephoto lenses and have very high resolution. The retinas are tiny but can be directed, via movable eye tubes, toward different stimuli. The less complex secondary eyes are specialized for detecting movement. In this research, the detailed function of each type of eye will first be studied by masking sets of eyes and measuring spiders' responses to stimuli such as video images of prey. The investigators will also build an innovative eyetracker to monitor and measure the movement of the principal eyes. Next, the investigators will study how the eyes interact, and how spiders integrate visual information from each eye type. The comparison of two spider species, each with the same eye arrangement but very different behavioral patterns, will provide examples of how this basic system can be modified for different purposes. The results will shed light on how specialized units in a perceptual system function together to provide information that can be analyzed by a tiny brain. In addition, the results will have implications for robotic design. The project will provide support for a postdoctoral researcher, a graduate student, and numerous undergraduates, and will enhance an international collaboration. Results will be communicated to lay audiences via a website in coordination with the American Arachnological Society.