Localization of Electric Communication Signals
{'Code': '08090200', 'Directorate': {'Abbreviation': 'BIO', 'LongName': 'Direct For Biological Sciences'}, 'Division': {'Abbreviation': 'IOS', 'LongName': 'Division Of Integrative Organismal Systems'}}
{'SignBlockName': 'Christopher Platt'}
Sense organs provide two parallel important functions.  They               serve to detect and recognize particular stimuli, and to localize               a stimulus in space; the animal then can make appropriate                       behavioral responses with a correct spatial orientation to the                  guided behavior.  Electroreception is a special sense exploited                 by several fishes that use electric organs to produce a discharge               used for object detection and communication.  Unlike propagated                 sound that gives timing cues for auditory localization, electric                signals act instantly; unlike straight rays of light that give                  sight lines for visual localization, the vectors of the electric                currents are often curved.                                                           This project examines the guidance of oriented electrosen-                 sory behavior in electric fish using behavior, physiology, and                  computer modelling.  Video analysis in three dimensions will be                 used to quantify the swimming path as a fish orients to distant                 electric discharges that mimic other electric fish.  This                       behavior involves aligning the body axis parallel to the electric               field vector, and swimming toward the current source.  The                      approach track will be correlated with the electric field derived               by computation that will include aquarium geometry, and both                    stationary and moving electrodes.  Electrophysiological activity                will be recorded from the nerves that innervate two classes of                  electroreceptors, to characterize the sensory coding of the                     electric field parameters.  The physiological results will be                   compared to theoretical analyses of the electric field across the               fish's skin, as a function of geometry and skin resistance.                          Mechanisms of stimulus localization are fundamental to                     sensory processing.  This study uses a novel approach that will                 provide a substantial contribution to understanding electrosense                in particular, and other sensory systems in general.
{'FirstName': 'Carl', 'LastName': 'Hopkins', 'EmailAddress': 'cdh8@cornell.edu', 'StartDate': '07/01/1988', 'EndDate': None, 'RoleCode': 'Principal Investigator'}
{'Name': 'Cornell University', 'CityName': 'Ithaca', 'ZipCode': '148502820', 'PhoneNumber': '6072555014', 'StreetAddress': '373 Pine Tree Road', 'CountryName': 'United States', 'StateName': 'New York', 'StateCode': 'NY'}
[{'Code': '1185', 'Text': 'SENSORY SYSTEMS'}, {'Code': '9120', 'Text': 'CROSS-DIRECTORATE PROGRAMS'}]
{'url': 'https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/download?DownloadFileName=1988&All=true', 'xml': '8810080.xml'}