Visually elicited turning behavior in Rana pipiens: comparative organization and neural control of escape and prey capture

King, Jacqueline; Comer, Christopher M.

doi:10.1007/bf00193968

Cited by 29 publications

(29 citation statements)

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“…As in some other animals, e.g. the frog (King and Comer, 1996), orienting turns tend to be relatively precise whereas avoidance turns are more variable, with turn angles of 30-250deg, which are sufficient to redirect the animal's locomotion quickly away from the stimulus (Jing and Gillette, 2003). This high variability is consistent with the idea of making ETs unpredictable.…”

Section: Molluscssupporting

confidence: 81%

“…The escape directions of frogs (Rana pipiens) startled using a looming black square visual stimulus, show high variability in the x-y plots of escape angle versus stimulus direction, in stark contrast to the low variability observed in x-y plots of attacks angles versus stimulus angles reported for prey capture behaviour (King and Comer, 1996) (Fig.9A,B). According to King and Comer (King and Comer, 1996), escape variability may be a fundamental component in the strategy of predator avoidance in these frogs, and could be an intrinsic property of the neural pathways controlling escapes.…”

Section: P Domenici J M Blagburn and J P Baconmentioning

confidence: 79%

“…According to King and Comer (King and Comer, 1996), escape variability may be a fundamental component in the strategy of predator avoidance in these frogs, and could be an intrinsic property of the neural pathways controlling escapes. Given the higher speed of escape when compared with attacks, it was suggested that escape turning optimizes the speed of execution whereas attacks maximize spatial accuracy (King and Comer, 1996). Reanalysis of the original x-y escape data as circular plots shows two peaks of ET 0 s, at approximately 110 and 160deg.…”

Section: P Domenici J M Blagburn and J P Baconmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These small turns of the towards responses occur mainly when the stimulus direction is >90deg, thus they enable frogs to reach ET (Jayne and Ellis, 1998), with permission from Elsevier]. Escape trajectories -case studies protean unpredictability (Comer, 2009;Domenici et al, 2011), and contrasts with the high precision in jump direction of the same frogs when aiming at prey (King and Comer, 1996). It seems possible that the presence of the two main peaks of ET 0 s may result from the need to keep either of the vertical edges of the visual stimulus at the same angular position of the visual field.…”

Section: P Domenici J M Blagburn and J P Baconmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Animal escapology II: escape trajectory case studies

Domenici¹,

Blagburn

Bacon

2011

Journal of Experimental Biology

138

151

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Summary Escape trajectories (ETs; measured as the angle relative to the direction of the threat) have been studied in many taxa using a variety of methodologies and definitions. Here, we provide a review of methodological issues followed by a survey of ET studies across animal taxa, including insects, crustaceans, molluscs, lizards, fish, amphibians, birds and mammals. Variability in ETs is examined in terms of ecological significance and morpho-physiological constraints. The survey shows that certain escape strategies (single ETs and highly variable ETs within a limited angular sector) are found in most taxa reviewed here, suggesting that at least some of these ET distributions are the result of convergent evolution. High variability in ETs is found to be associated with multiple preferred trajectories in species from all taxa, and is suggested to provide unpredictability in the escape response. Random ETs are relatively rare and may be related to constraints in the manoeuvrability of the prey. Similarly, reports of the effect of refuges in the immediate environment are relatively uncommon, and mainly confined to lizards and mammals. This may be related to the fact that work on ETs carried out in laboratory settings has rarely provided shelters. Although there are a relatively large number of examples in the literature that suggest trends in the distribution of ETs, our understanding of animal escape strategies would benefit from a standardization of the analytical approach in the study of ETs, using circular statistics and related tests, in addition to the generation of large data sets.

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Section: Molluscssupporting

confidence: 81%

Section: P Domenici J M Blagburn and J P Baconmentioning

confidence: 79%

Section: P Domenici J M Blagburn and J P Baconmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: P Domenici J M Blagburn and J P Baconmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Animal escapology II: escape trajectory case studies

Domenici¹,

Blagburn

Bacon

2011

Journal of Experimental Biology

138

151

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Being analogous to mammalian superior colliculus, it has been a subject of electrophysiological, morphological and behavioral studies [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10] . The optic tectum is composed of 9 layers numbered from 9 (superficial layer) to 1 (periventricular layer) [11,12] .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Intracellular and current source density analysis of pretectal input to the optic tectum of the frog

Kang

et al. 2010

Neurosci. Bull.

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Objective Electrophysiological examination of the ipsilateral pretectotectal projection has proved that pretectal cells elicit strong suppressive responses to the ipsilateral tectum. However, the neural mechanisms underlying the contralateral pretectotectal prejection are still obscure. The present study aimed to examine the synaptic nature of pretectal nuclei and contralateral tectal cells, and to demonstrate the spatiotemporal pattern of neuronal activity in the 2 main brain structures.Methods Intracellular recording and current source density (CSD) analysis were used to test the complexity of neuronal mechanism of pretectotectal information transfer. Results The pretectal stimulation elicited only one type of response on the contralateral tectum, the inhibitory postsynaptic potential (IPSP). The majority of contra-induced IPSPs were assumed to be polysynaptically driven. In the CSD analysis, only one sink with short latency was observed in each profile. The ipsilateral projection produced a prominent monosynaptic sink in layer 8 of tectum. Recipient neurons were located in layers 6 and 7 of tectum. The result confirmed former findings from ipsilateral intracellular recordings. Conclusion These results suggest the following neuronal circuit: afferents from the pretectal nuclei broadly inhibit both tectal neuron, and since no second sink occurs in tectal layers, the pretectotectal excitatory afferents probably do not extend over the whole tectum, but are within limited state. The results of intracellular recording and CSD analysis further provide evidence of how pretectal afferent activity flows within the tectal laminae.

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Influence of the tectal zone on the distribution of synaptic boutons in the brainstem of goldfish

1998

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This study investigated whether the topographic differences in the functional properties of the tectal motor map of goldfish are related to particular patterns of connections with downstream structures. With this aim, the distribution of synaptic boutons in the mesencephalic and rhombencephalic structures was studied after discrete injections of the tracer biotinylated dextran amine were placed at separate sites along the tectal anteroposterior axis. Irrespective of the location of the injection site, the boutons were more abundant in the mesencephalon than in the rhombencephalon, and they were located chiefly ipsilaterally all throughout the brainstem. In the mesencephalon, the boutons were found in its ventrolateral reticular formation and, to a lesser extent, in the nucleus of the medial longitudinal fasciculus, the oculomotor and isthmi nuclei, and the torus semicircularis. In the mesencephalic reticular formation, the bouton location was distributed topographically with respect to the injection site. Terminals were also observed in the nucleus of the medial longitudinal fasciculus after injections into anteromedial or middle tectal zones. In the oculomotor nucleus, boutons were present exclusively in the case of the anteromedial injection. In the rhombencephalon, most boutons were found in the superior reticular formation, and their number decreased in the medial and inferior reticular formations. A topographic distribution could be observed within the superior reticular formation, although its density was attenuated compared with that observed in the mesencephalic reticular formation. The domains of synaptic endings on the ipsilateral side were different from those on the contralateral side: The ipsilateral synaptic endings were located more medially. Finally, a few boutons were also found in the vestibulocerebellar area on either the ipsilateral or the contralateral side, depending on the injection site. From these data, the authors conclude that, in goldfish, irrespective of the tectal injection site, the endings are in similar nuclei in the brainstem; however, the distribution of synaptic boutons within such nuclei can be related to the functional properties of each tectal zone.

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Visually elicited turning behavior in Rana pipiens: comparative organization and neural control of escape and prey capture

Cited by 29 publications

References 32 publications

Animal escapology II: escape trajectory case studies

Animal escapology II: escape trajectory case studies

Intracellular and current source density analysis of pretectal input to the optic tectum of the frog

Influence of the tectal zone on the distribution of synaptic boutons in the brainstem of goldfish

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