Fish geometry and electric organ discharge determine functional organization of the electrosensory epithelium.

ABSTRACT: Active electroreception in Gymnotus omarorum is a sensory modality that perceives the changes that nearby objects cause in a self generated electric field. The field is emitted as repetitive stereotyped pulses that stimulate skin electroreceptors. Differently from mormyriformes electric fish, gymnotiformes have an electric organ distributed along a large portion of the body, which fires sequentially. As a consequence shape and amplitude of both, the electric field generated and the image of objects, change during the electric pulse. To study how G. omarorum constructs a perceptual representation, we developed a computational model that allows the determination of the self-generated field and the electric image. We verify and use the model as a tool to explore image formation in diverse exp

SUBMITTER: Sanguinetti-Scheck JI 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3214058 | biostudies-literature | 2011

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature