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Theoretical Analysis of Pre-Receptor Image Conditioning in Weakly Electric Fish

Electroreceptive fish detect nearby objects by processing the information contained in the pattern of electric currents through the skin. The distribution of local transepidermal voltage or current density on the sensory surface of the fish's skin is the electric image of the surrounding enviro...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Migliaro, Adriana, Caputi, Angel A, Budelli, Ruben
Formato: Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2005
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1185643/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16110331
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.0010016
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author Migliaro, Adriana
Caputi, Angel A
Budelli, Ruben
author_facet Migliaro, Adriana
Caputi, Angel A
Budelli, Ruben
author_sort Migliaro, Adriana
collection PubMed
description Electroreceptive fish detect nearby objects by processing the information contained in the pattern of electric currents through the skin. The distribution of local transepidermal voltage or current density on the sensory surface of the fish's skin is the electric image of the surrounding environment. This article reports a model study of the quantitative effect of the conductance of the internal tissues and the skin on electric image generation in Gnathonemus petersii (Günther 1862). Using realistic modelling, we calculated the electric image of a metal object on a simulated fish having different combinations of internal tissues and skin conductances. An object perturbs an electric field as if it were a distribution of electric sources. The equivalent distribution of electric sources is referred to as an object's imprimence. The high conductivity of the fish body lowers the load resistance of a given object's imprimence, increasing the electric image. It also funnels the current generated by the electric organ in such a way that the field and the imprimence of objects in the vicinity of the rostral electric fovea are enhanced. Regarding skin conductance, our results show that the actual value is in the optimal range for transcutaneous voltage modulation by nearby objects. This result suggests that “voltage” is the answer to the long-standing question as to whether current or voltage is the effective stimulus for electroreceptors. Our analysis shows that the fish body should be conceived as an object that interacts with nearby objects, conditioning the electric image. The concept of imprimence can be extended to other sensory systems, facilitating the identification of features common to different perceptual systems.
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spelling pubmed-11856432005-08-17 Theoretical Analysis of Pre-Receptor Image Conditioning in Weakly Electric Fish Migliaro, Adriana Caputi, Angel A Budelli, Ruben PLoS Comput Biol Research Article Electroreceptive fish detect nearby objects by processing the information contained in the pattern of electric currents through the skin. The distribution of local transepidermal voltage or current density on the sensory surface of the fish's skin is the electric image of the surrounding environment. This article reports a model study of the quantitative effect of the conductance of the internal tissues and the skin on electric image generation in Gnathonemus petersii (Günther 1862). Using realistic modelling, we calculated the electric image of a metal object on a simulated fish having different combinations of internal tissues and skin conductances. An object perturbs an electric field as if it were a distribution of electric sources. The equivalent distribution of electric sources is referred to as an object's imprimence. The high conductivity of the fish body lowers the load resistance of a given object's imprimence, increasing the electric image. It also funnels the current generated by the electric organ in such a way that the field and the imprimence of objects in the vicinity of the rostral electric fovea are enhanced. Regarding skin conductance, our results show that the actual value is in the optimal range for transcutaneous voltage modulation by nearby objects. This result suggests that “voltage” is the answer to the long-standing question as to whether current or voltage is the effective stimulus for electroreceptors. Our analysis shows that the fish body should be conceived as an object that interacts with nearby objects, conditioning the electric image. The concept of imprimence can be extended to other sensory systems, facilitating the identification of features common to different perceptual systems. Public Library of Science 2005-07 2005-07-15 /pmc/articles/PMC1185643/ /pubmed/16110331 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.0010016 Text en Copyright: © 2005 Migliaro et al. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are properly credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Migliaro, Adriana
Caputi, Angel A
Budelli, Ruben
Theoretical Analysis of Pre-Receptor Image Conditioning in Weakly Electric Fish
title Theoretical Analysis of Pre-Receptor Image Conditioning in Weakly Electric Fish
title_full Theoretical Analysis of Pre-Receptor Image Conditioning in Weakly Electric Fish
title_fullStr Theoretical Analysis of Pre-Receptor Image Conditioning in Weakly Electric Fish
title_full_unstemmed Theoretical Analysis of Pre-Receptor Image Conditioning in Weakly Electric Fish
title_short Theoretical Analysis of Pre-Receptor Image Conditioning in Weakly Electric Fish
title_sort theoretical analysis of pre-receptor image conditioning in weakly electric fish
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1185643/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16110331
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.0010016
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