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The role of sensory systems for the organization of motor activity |
OverviewIt is commonly accepted that the fundamental roles of the sensory and central nervous systems are separate. The sensory system gives the central nervous system information about the environment and feedback such that the resulted behavior is continuously adapted to changing circumstances. But sensory organs often are complex neural network themselves, which have dynamics of their own, and take part in processing of the information. Can the sensory system play a key role in the generation of a behavior?We study this question on the marine mollusk Clione limacina (Gastropoda, Opisthobranchia, Pteropoda) . It is a planktonic animal that swims by rhythmic movements of a pair of wings. When swimming in the sea Clione is usually oriented vertically, a behavior controlled by the sensory organ statocyst. However, when it senses prey it dramatically changes its behavior. Particularly, it starts swimming in a very complex trajectory to locate the prey. Our research is aimed at studying the role of the statocyst in the hunting behavior. In a series of modeling and theoretical studies it has been shown that the statocyst is capable of producing pattern similar to hunting behavior trajectories. The experimental work carried out in Newfoundland, Canada, support the idea that in this system the sensory organ- statocyst in effect generates the signals that control the Clione swimming trajectory during hunting. |
PeopleY. ArshavskyA. Selverston M. I. Rabinovich R. Levi P. Varona |
Publications
Varona, P; Rabinovich, MI.; Selverston AI.; Arshavsky YI.
competition between sensory neurons generates chaos: A possible mechanism
for molluscan hunting behavior
R.Levi, P.Varona, Y.I. Arshavsky, M.I.Rabinovich, and A.I.Selverston
Dual sensory-motor function for a molluskan statocyst network.
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| Comments? Contact | Terry Peters, Phone +1-858-534-7753, tpeters (at) ucsd.edu |