Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, MA 02543, USA
University of Minnesota-Duluth, Duluth, MN 55812, USA.
J Exp Biol. 2019 Jan 25;222(Pt 2):jeb190587. doi: 10.1242/jeb.190587.
A longstanding question in aquatic animal sensory physiology is the impact of self-generated movement on lateral line sensitivity. One hypothesis is that efferent modulation of the sensory hair cells cancels self-generated noise and allows fish to sample their surroundings while swimming. In this study, microwire electrodes were chronically implanted into the anterior lateral line nerve of oyster toadfish and neural activity was monitored during forward movement. Fish were allowed to freely swim or were moved by a tethered sled. In all cases, neural activity increased during movement with no evidence of efferent modulation. The anterior lateral line of moving fish responded to a vibrating sphere or the tail oscillations of a robotic fish, indicating that the lateral line also remains sensitive to outside stimulus during self-generated movement. The results suggest that during normal swim speeds, lateral line neuromasts are not saturated and retain the ability to detect external stimuli without efferent modulation.
水生动物感觉生理学中长期存在的一个问题是自身运动对侧线敏感性的影响。有一种假设认为，传出神经调制可以抵消自身产生的噪声，使鱼类在游泳时能够感知周围环境。在这项研究中，微丝电极被长期植入牡蛎蟾鱼的前侧线神经中，并在向前运动期间监测神经活动。让鱼自由游动或通过系绳雪橇移动。在所有情况下，神经活动在运动过程中增加，没有传出神经调制的证据。运动中的鱼的前侧线对振动球体或机器鱼的尾部振动有反应，这表明侧线在自身运动时也能对外界刺激保持敏感。研究结果表明，在正常游泳速度下，侧线感觉毛不会饱和，并在没有传出神经调制的情况下保持检测外部刺激的能力。
