From static electric images to electric flow: Towards dynamic perceptual cues in active electroreception

Hofmann, Volker; Sanguinetti-Scheck, Juan Ignacio; Gómez-Sena, Leonel; Engelmann, Jacob

doi:10.1016/j.jphysparis.2012.06.003

Cited by 26 publications

(51 citation statements)

References 34 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Observations during behavioural tests indeed indicated that G. petersii performs stereotyped movements, so-called probing motor acts (Toerring and Moller, 1984), when judging the impedance of capacitive dipole objects (von der Emde and Ronacher, 1994). The use of motion-related parameters by G. petersii has also been emphasized recently in various studies on electrosensory flow (Hofmann et al, 2012.…”

Section: Impedance Estimation Of Capacitive Objectsmentioning

confidence: 93%

“…The obtained image profiles thus appropriately represent the sensory information that is actually perceived by the animal. However, it should be mentioned that the influence of skin curvature on the peripheral image profiles (Hofmann et al, 2012) could not be accounted for in detail in this study because of the planar recording grid used. As we have shown in this study, not only amplitude but also waveform images constitute Mexican hat profiles (Fig.…”

Section: Spatial Profiles Of Amplitude and Waveform Imagesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Behavioural, simulation and image recording studies (Hofmann et al, 2012;Sicardi et al, 2000;von der Emde et al, 1998) suggest that the animals use the relative slope of amplitude images (SAR) to judge the distance of resistive objects. The SAR was shown to be independent of object size and resistance, whereas certain strong variations in object shape affected the SAR in addition to object distance (Sicardi et al, 2000;von der Emde et al, 1998).…”

Section: Distance Estimation Of Capacitive Objectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Over the past years, modelling and measurement studies complemented by behavioural data Caputi et al, 1998;Hofmann et al, 2012;von der Emde et al, 1998) have revealed many details of electric image profiles and uncovered crucial image features for object analysis. However, almost all of these studies focused solely on amplitude images of purely resistive objects.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As these modulation profiles are sculpted by the impedance, size, shape and distance of an object, image features are influenced by many parameters (von der Emde and Schwarz, 2002). An unambiguous cue for distance estimation, however, is the relative slope of the amplitude image (Caputi et al, 1998;Hofmann et al, 2012;Sicardi et al, 2000;von der Emde et al, 1998). It is defined as the ratio of the steepest slope to the strongest modulation of the image (von der Emde et al, 1998).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

Estimation of distance and electric impedance of capacitive objects in the weakly electric fish,Gnathonemus petersii

Gottwald

Bott

Emde

2017

Journal of Experimental Biology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

During active electrolocation, the weakly electric fish Gnathonemus petersii judges the distance and impedance of nearby objects. Capacitive objects, which modulate local amplitude and waveform of the fish's electric probing signals, cast amplitude and waveform images onto the fish's electroreceptive skin. For an unambiguous estimation of the impedance and distance of an object, the animal has to deal with multiple dependencies of object and image parameters. Based on experimentally recorded amplitude and waveform images, we investigated possible strategies of the fish to unequivocally determine both the distance and the impedance of capacitive objects. We show that the relative slope in amplitude images, but not in waveform images, is independent of object impedance and is a measure of object distance. Distance-invariant impedance estimators were obtained by two different analytical strategies. The peak modulations of both image types were 'calibrated' with the relative slope of the amplitude image. Impedance estimators were obtained whenever these pairs of image features ( peak and relative slope) were related dynamically over two consecutive distances. A static impedance estimator termed 'electric colour' is postulated to arise from the relationship of an amplitude and waveform image. Our results confirm that electric colour is indeed unaffected by object distance. For electric colour estimation we suggest a minimalistic approach of just relating the peak modulations of both image types to the basal amplitude and waveform condition. Our results are discussed with regard to the anatomical and physiological organization of the fish's electrosensory neuronal pathways and behavioural strategies of electrolocating fish.

show abstract

Section: Impedance Estimation Of Capacitive Objectsmentioning

confidence: 93%

Section: Spatial Profiles Of Amplitude and Waveform Imagesmentioning

confidence: 99%