Study Replication: Shape Discrimination in a Conditioning Procedure on the Jumping Spider Phidippus regius

Mannino, Eleonora; Regolin, Lucia; Moretto, Enzo; Agrò, Massimo De

doi:10.3390/ani13142326

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 67 publications

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“…Jumping spiders, in particular, show an impressive level of cognitive and behavioral complexity despite having a relatively small nervous system. These include learning (De Agrò, 2020; De Agrò et al, 2017; Liedtke & Schneider, 2014; Mannino et al, 2023), numerical abilities (Cross & Jackson, 2017), spatial and action planning (Cross & Jackson, 2015, 2016, 2019; Tarsitano & Jackson, 1994), object recognition (Dolev & Nelson, 2014, 2016; Rößler, De Agrò, et al, 2022), and even engaging in REM sleep-like behaviors (Rößler, Kim, et al, 2022). Fittingly, the most impressive characteristic of these animals is their vision (Winsor et al, 2023): a modular, specialized system split into 4 pairs of eyes (Figure 1), with each pair projecting into anatomically separate brain areas (Harland et al, 2012; N. Morehouse, 2020; N. I.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Eye-specific detection and a multi-eye integration model of biological motion perception

De Agrò,

Rößler,

Shamble

2023

Preprint

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The term biological motion refers to the peculiar kinematics of living organisms. Their interconnected joints move at a fixed distance from each other, a pattern that is common among all locomotive, rigid animals. Across the animal kingdom, many species have developed specialized circuitry to visually recognize biologically moving stimuli and discriminate them from other patterns. Recently, this skill has also been observed in the distributed visual system of jumping spiders. These eight-eyed animals use three of their eye pairs to perceive motion. Then, the gaze of the remaining pair is shifted towards the detected object for further inspection. When presented with a biologically moving stimulus and a random one, jumping spiders turn to face the latter, demonstrating discrimination. In the current paper, we systematically tested the ability of jumping spiders to discriminate biological from random displays using every single eye-pair, by blocking the others with paint. The animals were able to discriminate the stimuli only when the anterior-lateral eyes were unblocked, performing at chance level with the other pairs. Crucially, the spiders preferred the biological stimulus, not the random one. To explain this preference reversal we hypothesized a model, describing how the anterior-lateral eyes' specialization in detecting biological motion feeds into a multi-eye integration system, generating more complex behavior from the combination of the simple, single-eye responses. We propose that this in-built modularity may be a solution to the limited resources of these invertebrates' brains, constituting a novel approach to visual processing.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Eye-specific detection and a multi-eye integration model of biological motion perception

De Agrò,

Rößler,

Shamble

2023

Preprint

Self Cite

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Independence and synergy of spatial attention in the two visual systems of jumping spiders

Loconsole,

Ferrante,

Giacomazzi

et al. 2024

Journal of Experimental Biology

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By selectively focusing on a specific portion of the environment, animals can solve the problem of information overload, toning down irrelevant inputs and concentrating only on the relevant ones. This may be of particular relevance for animals such as the jumping spider, which possess a wide visual field of almost 360° and thus could benefit from a low-cost system for sharpening attention. Jumping spiders have a modular visual system composed of four pairs of eyes, of which only the two frontal eyes (i.e., AMEs) are motile, whereas the other secondary pairs remain immobile. We hypothesized that jumping spiders can exploit both principal and secondary eyes for stimulus detection and attentional shift, with the two systems working synergistically. In Experiment 1 we investigated AMEs’ attentional responses following a spatial cue presented to the secondary eyes. In Experiment 2, we tested for enhanced attention in the secondary eyes’ visual field congruent with the direction of the AMEs’ focus. In both experiments, we observed that animals were faster and more accurate in detecting a target when it appeared in a direction opposite to that of the initial cue. In contrast with our initial hypothesis, these results would suggest that attention is segregated across eyes, with each system working on compensating the other by attending to different spatial locations.

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Eye-specific detection and a multi-eye integration model of biological motion perception

De Agrò,

Rößler,

Shamble

2024

Journal of Experimental Biology

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‘Biological motion’ refers to the distinctive kinematics observed in many living organisms, where visually-observable points on the animal move at fixed distances from each other. Across the animal kingdom, many species have developed specialized visual circuitry to recognize such biological motion and to discriminate it from other patterns. Recently, this ability has been observed in the distributed visual system of jumping spiders. These eight-eyed animals usesix eyes to perceive motion, while the remaining two (the principal anterior-medial eyes) are shifted across the visual scene to further inspect detected objects. When presented with a biologically moving stimulus and a random one, jumping spiders turn to face the latter, clearly demonstrating the ability to discriminate between them. However, it remains unclear if the principal eyes are necessary for this behavior, whether all secondary eyes can perform this discrimination, or if a single eye-pair is specialized for this task. Here, we systematically tested the ability of jumping spiders to discriminate between biological and random visual stimuli by testing each eye-pair alone. Spiders were able to discriminate stimuli only when the anterior-lateral eyes were unblocked, and performed at chance levels in other configurations. Interestingly, spiders showed a preference for biological motion over random stimuli—unlike in past work. We therefore propose a new model describing how specialization of the anterior-lateral eyes for detecting biological motion contributes to multi-eye integration in this system. This integration generates more complex behavior through the combination of simple, single-eye responses. We posit that this in-built modularity may be a solution to the limited resources of these invertebrates’ brains—constituting a novel approach to visual processing.

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Study Replication: Shape Discrimination in a Conditioning Procedure on the Jumping Spider Phidippus regius

Cited by 3 publications

References 67 publications

Eye-specific detection and a multi-eye integration model of biological motion perception

Eye-specific detection and a multi-eye integration model of biological motion perception

Independence and synergy of spatial attention in the two visual systems of jumping spiders

Eye-specific detection and a multi-eye integration model of biological motion perception

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