Toward Testing for Multimodal Perception of Mating Signals

Abstract

Many mating signals consist of multimodal components that need decoding by several sensory modalities on the receiver's side. For methodological and conceptual reasons, the communicative functions of these signals are often investigated only one at a time. Likewise, variation of single signal traits are frequently correlated by researchers with senders' quality or receivers' behavioral responses. Consequently, the two classic and still dominating hypotheses regarding the communicative meaning of multimodal mating signals postulate that different components either serve as backup messages or provide multiple meanings. Here we discuss how this conceptual dichotomy might have hampered a more integrative, perception encompassing understanding of multimodal communication: neither the multiple message nor the backup signal hypotheses address the possibility that multimodal signals are integrated neurally into one percept. Therefore, when studying multimodal mating signals, we should be aware that they can give rise to multimodal percepts. This means that receivers can gain access to additional information inherent in combined signal components only ("the whole is something different than the sum of its parts"). We review the evidence for the importance of multimodal percepts and outline potential avenues for discovery of multimodal percepts in animal communication.

Cellular state determines the multimodal signaling response of single cells

“…This suggests that the multimodal, cellular statedependent nature of signal transduction in mammalian organisms has evolved to endow individual cells with a high capacity for information processing to accurately interpret a broad range of input information within the complex landscape of cellular states and take the appropriate decision. Interestingly, the properties of intracellular signal processing revealed here are similar to multimodal perception performed by sensory systems across the kingdom of multicellular life 31,53,54,55,56 . Both display sensing through multiple modalities (multiple signaling nodes versus multiple sensory neurons) with partial non-redundancy, which allows the integration of multiple sources of information into a more complete picture of reality.…”

Assessment of fighting ability in the vocal cichlid Metriaclima zebra in face of incongruent audiovisual information

“…Although multimodal communication and perception has received increasing attention in recent years (Narins et al, 2003;Skals et al, 2005;Koppen and Spence, 2007;Diaconescu et al, 2011;Pluta et al, 2011;Taylor et al, 2011;Fetsch et al, 2013;Ben-Ari and Inbar, 2014;Cecere et al, 2015;Kayser and Shams, 2015;Parise and Ernst, 2016;Schumacher et al, 2016Schumacher et al, , 2017Halfwerk et al, 2019;McIntyre and Preuss, 2019;Mitoyen et al, 2019), multisensory perception should not only be interpreted in relation to information uncertainty but also in an adaptive framework, i.e. Fig.…”

Foundations and Frontiers in Mate Choice Review of: Rosenthal, G. 2017. Mate Choice: The Evolution of Sexual Decision Making from Microbes to Humans. Princeton Univ. Press, Princeton, NJ, 648 pp. ISBN: 978‐0‐691‐15067‐3; $US55.00 HB

“…Interactions among different signals can influence the behavioral decisions of both courters and choosers, and thus are key to understanding if there are costs and benefits of mate choice preferences. Choosers frequently pay attention to multiple features of a courter's courtship signal (e.g., song pulse rate, frequency, and volume; Ryan 1991; Ryan and Keddy-Hector 1992), and may consider signals from different sensory modalities that vary in space and time (Kozak and Uetz 2016;Halfwerk et al 2019). Additionally, mating decisions can occur at different phases in the mating process: premating (the detection and evaluation of mating signals; e.g., perception of sensory signals, cognition/decision); perimating (activities soon before, during, or soon after mating; e.g., permitting, denying, prolonging, or terminating physical contact); and postmating (sexual decisions occurring after mating; e.g., fertilization decisions, resource allocation into offspring via parental investment before and after birth).…”