Abstract
Aquatic predators like Xenopus laevis exploit mechano-sensory lateral lines to localise prey on the water surface by its wave emissions. In terms of distance, hypothetically, the source of a concentric wave could be centrally represented based on wave curvatures: for Xenopus, we present a first sample of 98 extracellularly recorded brainstem and midbrain responses to waves with curvatures ranging from 22.2–11.1 m−1. At the frog, concurrently, wave amplitudes and their spectral composition were kept stable. Notably, 61% of 98 units displayed curvature-dependent spike rates, suggesting that wave curvatures could support an extraction of source distances in the amphibian brain.
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Abbreviations
- c :
-
Curvature
- d :
-
Distance
- LL:
-
Lateral line
- RCF:
-
Rate-curvature function
- SEM:
-
Standard error of the mean
- VS:
-
Vector strength
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Acknowledgments
Supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft and the Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung. We are indebted to J. Benda, U. Schneeweiss, and A. Elepfandt. Experiments were approved by the Landesamt für Gesundheit und Soziales Berlin, and comply with the principles of animal care (publication no. 86–23, revised 1985, of the National Institute of Health).
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Behrend, O., Branoner, F., Ziehm, U. et al. Lateral line units in the amphibian brain could integrate wave curvatures. J Comp Physiol A 194, 777–783 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00359-008-0351-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00359-008-0351-1