Catania Kenneth C
Department of Biological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Box 351634 Station B, Nashville, TN, 37235-1634, USA.
J Comp Physiol A Neuroethol Sens Neural Behav Physiol. 2017 Sep;203(9):677-689. doi: 10.1007/s00359-016-1143-7. Epub 2017 Mar 4.
In this review, I give a first-person account of surprising insights that have come from the behavioral dimension of neuroethological studies in my laboratory. These studies include the early attempts to understand the function of the nose in star-nosed moles and to explore its representation in the neocortex. This led to the discovery of a somatosensory fovea that parallels the visual fovea of primates in several ways. Subsequent experiments to investigate the assumed superiority of star-nosed moles to their relatives when locating food led to the unexpected discovery of stereo olfaction in common moles. The exceptional olfactory abilities of common moles, in turn, helped to explain an unusual bait-collecting technique called "worm-grunting" in the American southeast. Finally, the predatory behavior of tentacled snakes was best understood not by exploring their nervous system, but rather by considering fish nervous systems. These experiences highlight the difficulty of predicting the abilities of animals that have senses foreign to the investigator, and also the rewards of discovering the unexpected.
在这篇综述中，我以第一人称叙述了我实验室神经行为学研究行为维度带来的惊人见解。这些研究包括早期尝试理解星鼻鼹鼠鼻子的功能以及探索其在新皮层中的表征。这导致发现了一个体感中央凹，它在几个方面与灵长类动物的视觉中央凹相似。随后，为研究星鼻鼹鼠在定位食物时相对于其亲属的假定优势而进行的实验，意外地发现了普通鼹鼠的立体嗅觉。反过来，普通鼹鼠非凡的嗅觉能力有助于解释美国东南部一种名为“蚯蚓呼噜声”的特殊诱饵收集技术。最后，对触手蛇捕食行为的最佳理解不是通过探索它们的神经系统，而是通过考虑鱼类的神经系统。这些经历凸显了预测具有研究者所不熟悉感官的动物能力的困难，也凸显了发现意外情况的回报。
