Sensory-motor integration in Gnathonemus petersii - WCUB, ENWW

感觉系统和运动系统之间的关系是理解动物行为的基础。感官系统告诉动物在特定情况下它应该如何表现。反过来，动物自己的行为可以塑造出可用的感觉信息。感觉和运动系统都能增加动物的成功率(例如，在寻找食物、躲避捕食者或获得配偶方面)。弱电鱼类Gnathonemus petersii是研究这种相互作用的极好模型。它拥有一个与许多运动动作相关的电感觉系统，这些动作被认为可以改变现有的感觉流。我希望通过使用跨越多个学科的技术(例如，力学、神经科学、心理学和动物学)来解开这种相互依存的关系。我认为，有必要采取跨学科的方法，以了解所有层面的相互作用(从神经元到整个生物体)。因此，这项研究属于BBSRC的“动植物综合生物学”范畴，旨在了解“生物过程如何在组织和有机体内以综合和动态的方式发挥作用”，希望利用这些原理来解决更广泛的世界所面临的问题。

The relationship between sensory and motor systems is fundamental to understanding animal behaviour. Sensory systems inform an animal on how it should behave in a given situation. In turn, an animal's own actions can sculpt the sensory information available. Both sensory and motor systems work to increase an animal's success (e.g. in terms of finding food, evading predators, or obtaining a mate). The weakly electric fish, Gnathonemus petersii, is an excellent model for studying this interaction. It possesses an electrosensory system which is associated with a number of motor actions thought to change the sensory flow present. I hope to unravel this interdependency by using techniques across a number of disciplines (e.g. mechanics, neuroscience, psychology and zoology). I believe that it is necessary to take an interdisciplinary approach in order to understand the interaction at all levels (from neurons to organisms as a whole). As such, this research falls into the BBSRC remit of 'Integrative Animal and Plant Biology' which aims to understand 'how biological processes function in an integrate and dynamic way within tissues and organisms' in the hopes of using these principles to solve problems being faced by the wider world.