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The Journal of Neuroscience, August 9, 2006, 26(32):8221-8234; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1508-06.2006

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Behavioral/Systems/Cognitive
Effects of Sensing Behavior on a Latency Code

Nathaniel B. Sawtell,^1 * Alan Williams,^1 * Patrick D. Roberts,¹ Gerhard von der Emde,² and Curtis C. Bell¹

¹Neurological Sciences Institute, Oregon Health and Sciences University, Beaverton, Oregon, 97006, and ²Institute for Zoology, University of Bonn, 53115 Bonn, Germany

Correspondence should be addressed to Nathaniel B. Sawtell, Neurological Sciences Institute, Oregon Health and Sciences University, Beaverton, OR 97006. Email: sawtelln{at}ohsu.edu

Sensory information is often acquired through active exploration, yet relatively little is known about how neurons encode sensory stimuli in the context of natural patterns of sensing behavior. We examined the effects of sensing behavior on a spike latency code in the active electrosensory system of mormyrid fish. These fish actively probe their environment by emitting brief electric organ discharge (EOD) pulses. Nearby objects alter the spatial pattern of current flowing through the skin. These changes are encoded by small shifts in the latency of individual electroreceptor afferent spikes after the EOD. In nature, the temporal pattern of EOD intervals is highly structured and varies depending on the behavioral context. We performed experiments in which we varied both the EOD amplitude and the intervals between EODs to understand how sensing behavior affects afferent latency coding. We use white-noise stimuli and linear filter estimation methods to develop simple models characterizing the dependence of afferent spike latency on the preceding sequence of EOD intervals and amplitudes. Comparing the predictions of these models with actual afferent responses for natural patterns of EOD intervals and amplitudes reveals an unexpectedly rich interplay between sensing behavior and stimulus encoding. Implications of our results for how afferent spike latency is decoded at central stages of electrosensory processing are discussed.

Key words: electroreceptor; temporal coding; latency; neuroethology; sensorimotor; active sensing

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Received Dec. 7, 2005; revised June 9, 2006; accepted June 28, 2006.

Correspondence should be addressed to Nathaniel B. Sawtell, Neurological Sciences Institute, Oregon Health and Sciences University, Beaverton, OR 97006. Email: sawtelln{at}ohsu.edu

This article has been cited by other articles:

				N. B. Sawtell and A. Williams Transformations of Electrosensory Encoding Associated with an Adaptive Filter J. Neurosci., February 13, 2008; 28(7): 1598 - 1612. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. Zhang, V. Z. Han, J. Meek, and C. C. Bell Granular Cells of the Mormyrid Electrosensory Lobe and Postsynaptic Control Over Presynaptic Spike Occurrence and Amplitude Through an Electrical Synapse J Neurophysiol, March 1, 2007; 97(3): 2191 - 2203. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				N. B. Sawtell, A. Williams, and C. C. Bell Central Control of Dendritic Spikes Shapes the Responses of Purkinje-Like Cells through Spike Timing-Dependent Synaptic Plasticity J. Neurosci., February 14, 2007; 27(7): 1552 - 1565. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

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