Abstract
In this paper, we apply a real time activity-dependent protocol to study how freely swimming weakly electric fish produce and process the timing of their own electric signals. Specifically, we address this study in the elephant fish, Gnathonemus petersii, an animal that uses weak discharges to locate obstacles or food while navigating, as well as for electro-communication with conspecifics. To investigate how the inter pulse intervals vary in response to external stimuli, we compare the response to a simple closed-loop stimulation protocol and the signals generated without electrical stimulation. The activity-dependent stimulation protocol explores different stimulus delivery delays relative to the fish’s own electric discharges. We show that there is a critical time delay in this closed-loop interaction, as the largest changes in inter pulse intervals occur when the stimulation delay is below 100 ms. We also discuss the implications of these findings in the context of information processing in weakly electric fish.
Highlights
Electric fish produce and perceive electric signals
We have developed a simple protocol to study the response of freely swimming Gnathonemus petersii to naturalist waveform pulse stimulation delivered each time the fish produces an electric organ discharges (EODs)
We show that differences in the relative timing of the fish EOD and the external stimulus, referred as the stimulus delay, affected the fish response altering the inter pulse intervals (IPI) probability distribution
Summary
Pulse-type electric fish have electroreceptors across their bodies and an organ that generates all-or-nothing species-specific electric organ discharges (EODs) [1–5]. EODs can be detected non-invasively, weakly electric fish are a convenient animal model to study information processing and communication mechanisms in freely behaving animals. Depending on the behavioral context (e.g. night/ day) and the external stimuli, fish adapt their electric behavior [6,8–10] by changing their IPI distribution over time. These changes in the temporal structure of the EODs are correlated with different swimming patterns and overall motor behavior [9,11,12]
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