RWTH Aachen University, Institut für Biologie II, Worringerweg 3, D-52074, Aachen, Germany.
Max-Planck-Institut für Biologische Kybernetik, Max-Planck-Ring 11, D-72076, Tübingen, Germany.
J Comp Physiol A Neuroethol Sens Neural Behav Physiol. 2022 Jul;208(4):479-492. doi: 10.1007/s00359-022-01555-0. Epub 2022 Jun 13.
Adult barn owls and primates possess an almost symmetric monocular rotational horizontal optocollic reflex. In primates, the reflex is initially asymmetric and becomes symmetric with time after birth. The condition in barn owls has not been studied so far. Here, we present data on the development of this reflex in this bird. We tested juvenile barn owls from the time before they open their eyes after hatching to the time they reach adult feather length. Wide-field visual patterns served as stimuli. They were presented at different rotational speeds in binocular and monocular settings. The binocular horizontal optocollic responses of juvenile barn owls were symmetric and adult-like on the first day that the birds responded to the stimulus. The monocular responses showed different rates of development in respect to stimulus velocity and stimulus direction. For velocities up to 20 deg/s, the monocular reflex was also adult-like on the first day that the birds responded to the stimulus. An initially higher asymmetry for 30 deg/s compared to adults disappeared within about two weeks. The development at even higher velocities remained unclear.
成年仓鸮和灵长类动物具有近乎对称的单眼水平视动眼反射。在灵长类动物中，该反射最初是不对称的，出生后随着时间的推移变得对称。到目前为止，仓鸮的这种情况尚未被研究过。在这里，我们提供了有关这种鸟类这种反射发育的数据。我们测试了从孵化后睁开眼睛之前到达到成年羽毛长度的幼仓鸮。广角视觉模式作为刺激。它们在双眼和单眼设置中以不同的旋转速度呈现。在鸟类对刺激做出反应的第一天，幼仓鸮的双眼水平视动眼反射呈对称且与成年相似。单眼反应在相对于刺激速度和刺激方向的发育速度上有所不同。对于高达 20 度/秒的速度，在鸟类对刺激做出反应的第一天，单眼反射也与成年相似。与成年人相比，30 度/秒的初始更高的不对称性在大约两周内消失。甚至更高速度的发展仍不清楚。
