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Communication in the weakly electric fish Sternopygus macrurus. II. Behavioral test of conspecific EOD detection ability
- Source :
- Journal of comparative physiology. A, Sensory, neural, and behavioral physiology. 170(3)
- Publication Year :
- 1992
-
Abstract
- A classical conditioning paradigm was used to test the ability of Sternopygus macrurus to detect EOD-like stimuli (sine waves) of different frequencies. The behavioral tuning curves were quite close in shape to tuning curves based on single-unit recordings of T units, although the sensitivity at all frequencies was much greater. The behavioral curves showed notches of greatly reduced sensitivity when the test frequency was equal to, or twice the EOD frequency. The EOD of each of the fish was eliminated by lesioning the medullary pacemaker nucleus, and the fish were retested. The resulting tuning curves were nearly the same in shape as those of the EOD-intact individuals, but the PMN-lesioned fish showed an overall reduction of sensitivity of 30 dB. The EOD appears to enhance sensitivity by placing the summed stimulus (test stimulus + fish's EOD) at an amplitude where T units are maximally sensitive to small temporal modulations in the fish's own EOD. Peripheral tuning appears to limit the ability of males to detect the EOD of females, since these are, on average, an octave higher in frequency than the male EOD, while the peak sensitivity of the male occurs 5–10 Hz above its own EOD frequency.
- Subjects :
- Male
medicine.medical_specialty
Electric organ
Physiology
Conditioning, Classical
Test stimulus
Biology
Audiology
Stimulus (physiology)
Behavioral Neuroscience
Biological Clocks
medicine
Animals
Animal communication
Electric fish
Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
Neurons
Communication
Electric Organ
Medulla Oblongata
Sternopygus macrurus
Behavior, Animal
business.industry
Classical conditioning
Electric Stimulation
Animal Communication
Behavioral test
Animal Science and Zoology
Female
business
Electric Fish
Subjects
Details
- Volume :
- 170
- Issue :
- 3
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Journal of comparative physiology. A, Sensory, neural, and behavioral physiology
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....e7de5f00e36f1641a8ef895be5c1cb2b