Abstract
We propose a computational model of vision that describes the integration of cross-modal sensory information between the olfactory and visual systems in zebrafish based on the principles of the statistical extreme value theory. The integration of olfacto-retinal information is mediated by the centrifugal pathway that originates from the olfactory bulb and terminates in the neural retina. Motivation for using extreme value theory stems from physiological evidence suggesting that extremes and not the mean of the cell responses direct cellular activity in the vertebrate brain. We argue that the visual system, as measured by retinal ganglion cell responses in spikes/sec, follows an extreme value process for sensory integration and the increase in visual sensitivity from the olfactory input can be better modeled using extreme value distributions. As zebrafish maintains high evolutionary proximity to mammals, our model can be extended to other vertebrates as well.
Highlights
The brain perceives the external world through an integration of stimuli received from different sensory modalities like vision, olfaction, and audition via the centrifugal pathway
We argue that visual sensitivity follows the statistical Extreme Value Theory (EVT)
Zebrafish were anesthetized with 0.04% 3-amino benzoic acid and immobilized by intraperitoneal injections of 3 5 μl of 0.5 mg ml−1 gallamine triethiodide dissolved in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS), and placed on a wet sponge with most of the body covered by a wet paper towel
Summary
The brain perceives the external world through an integration of stimuli received from different sensory modalities like vision, olfaction, and audition via the centrifugal pathway. A recent study taking inspiration from Cajal’s original work on brain mapping (Gire et al, 2013) describes current knowledge of the centrifugal olfactory and visual pathways in mammalian species as being incomplete. For instance, the signaling pathways mediating brain feedback in human olfaction have been characterized, the origins and effects of signals to visual system functions remain to be examined. In all vertebrate species (e.g., teleost, reptiles, birds, rodents, primates) examined far, the retina receives brain feedback through the centrifugal visual pathways (Harter and Aine, 1984; Mick et al, 1993; Gastiner et al, 2004). Depending on the species under consideration, the centrifugal pathways may originate from different parts of brain, such as the pre-tectal cortex, isthmo-optic nucleus, thalamus, or olfactory bulb
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