Abstract
When faced with potential predators, animals instinctively decide whether there is a threat they should escape from, and also when, how, and where to take evasive action. While escape is often viewed in classical ethology as an action that is released upon presentation of specific stimuli, successful and adaptive escape behaviour relies on integrating information from sensory systems, stored knowledge, and internal states. From a neuroscience perspective, escape is an incredibly rich model that provides opportunities for investigating processes such as perceptual and value-based decision-making, or action selection, in an ethological setting. We review recent research from laboratory and field studies that explore, at the behavioural and mechanistic levels, how elements from multiple information streams are integrated to generate flexible escape behaviour.
Highlights
When faced with potential predators, animals instinctively decide whether there is a threat they should escape from, and when, how, and where to take evasive action
For learned threats in laboratory animals exposed to fear conditioning protocols, the central amygdala (CeA) is a critical node in controlling freezing behaviour through projections to the ventrolateral periaqueductal gray (PAG) [58], and recent evidence suggests that a competing population of CeA neurons is involved in selecting defence strategies such as escape or jumping, possibly through projections to the dorsal PAG [59]
Many species are capable of producing fast stereotyped escape, as well as slower and more variable responses that map onto distinct neural circuits, where the chosen type of escape depends on properties such as threat intensity and threat approach speed
Summary
When faced with potential predators, animals instinctively decide whether there is a threat they should escape from, and when, how, and where to take evasive action. The computation of escape behaviour integrates information from various streams, which creates the flexibility necessary for animals to survive in dynamic environments, and produce escapes that minimize reaction time in response to imminent threats, or that maximize success by considering as much information as possible.
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