Summary
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1.
ToadsBufo bufo (L.) prefer as prey “worm-like” objects with long axis orientation parallel to the movement direction rather than the same objects oriented “antiworm-like” with their long axis perpendicular to the movement direction.
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2.
By means of statistical correlation methods with computer programs it was analyzed to what extent neurons from different regions of the visual pathway respond sensitively, selectively or specifically to moving configurational stimuli, such as worm-like and antiworm-like objects of equivalent sizes.
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3.
Neurons withsensitivity to particular moving configurational stimuli were found in the retina (classes R2, R3, R4) and the retinal projection fields in the thalamic pretectal region (class TH3) and the optic tectum (class T5(1)).
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4.
Neurons withselective responses to moving configurational stimulus objects, corresponding to the behavior, were found in a particular population of tectal neurons (class T5(2)).
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5.
No neurons were found withspecific responses to a stimulus of a certain configuration.
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Ewert, J.P., Borchers, H.W. & Wietersheim, A.v. Question of prey feature detectors in the toad'sBufo bufo (L.) visual system: A correlation analysis. J. Comp. Physiol. 126, 43–47 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01342649
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01342649