Workpackage 2.3: Modelling of Spatiotemporal Neuronal Detection and Representation
The flow field of an attacking spider can be approximately described by the streamlines in an incompressible fluid caused by a sphere (green) moving in x-direction.
Estimation of the position of a moving sphere by the clawed frog Xenopus laevis laevis using its lateral line water velocity detectors. The sphere is located at position (0, 0.1 m, 0). The log-likelihood is highest at the position of the sphere (red area).
The arrows indicate the directions of reconstructed velocities of the moving sphere at different assumed positions of the sphere.
Fish localize conspecifics, prey, and predators with the help of water flows measured by the lateral-line system. The spider Cupiennius salei can localize a fly by the air flow caused by the prey through thousands of hairs on its skin. Crickets perceive a predator through air currents detected by their mechanoreceptor hairs.
The goal of this workpackage is the answer to the question how information is processed on a neuronal level allowing the crickets and spiders to determine the position of predator or prey in three-dimensional space. First of all, the physical characteristics of the stimulus (airflow at the cricket's sensors) have to be described, given the source of the stimulus, e.g. a moving spider attacking the poor cricket. Given the airflow at each sensor, we plan to implement a simple physical model of the deflection of the sensor hairs. Given the deflection, a neuronal model of the sensor will provide action potentials transferred by the afferent nerves to the brain. The question then is how the information in the action potentials can be used by the cricket to determine the direction and may be distance of the attacker.
The goal of this workpackage is the answer to the question how information is processed on a neuronal level allowing the crickets and spiders to determine the position of predator or prey in three-dimensional space. First of all, the physical characteristics of the stimulus (airflow at the cricket's sensors) have to be described, given the source of the stimulus, e.g. a moving spider attacking the poor cricket. Given the airflow at each sensor, we plan to implement a simple physical model of the deflection of the sensor hairs. Given the deflection, a neuronal model of the sensor will provide action potentials transferred by the afferent nerves to the brain. The question then is how the information in the action potentials can be used by the cricket to determine the direction and may be distance of the attacker.
cilia_pm@fz-juelich.de