Behavioral and neuronal responses to objects approach (looming) in the crab Chasmagnathus.

OLIVA, DAMIÁN; MEDAN, VIOLETA; TOMSIC, DANIEL

Oxford

Conferencia; Gordon Research Conferences on Neuroethology: Behavior, evolution and neurobiology; 2005

Gordon Research Conferences

In most species, objects approaching on a collision course (looming stimuli) elicit defensive reactions. Visual neurons sensitive to looming have been studied in great detail in insects and birds. Thus, there is considerable (though some time controversial) information on the characteristics of the stimulus (e.g. angular size, border speed, etc.) that trigger the neuronal response. Yet, very few studies have attempted to analyze the relation between stimulus features, neuronal responses and the behavioral output. In crabs, the escape response elicited by looming stimuli has been previously investigated in the field (e.g. Hemmi 2005). Here, we studied in the laboratory the escape response to looming stimuli in the semiterrestrial crab Chasmagnathus, in which stable intracellular recordings from brain interneurons can be performed in the intact animal.