Pedraja Federico, Sawtell Nathaniel B
Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute, Department of Neuroscience, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027.
bioRxiv. 2023 Sep 13:2023.09.13.557613. doi: 10.1101/2023.09.13.557613.
A number of organisms, including dolphins, bats, and electric fish, possess sophisticated active sensory systems that use self-generated signals (e.g. acoustic or electrical emissions) to probe the environment. Studies of active sensing in social groups have typically focused on strategies for minimizing interference from conspecific emissions. However, it is well-known from engineering that multiple spatially distributed emitters and receivers can greatly enhance environmental sensing (e.g. multistatic radar and sonar). Here we provide evidence from modeling, neural recordings, and behavioral experiments that the African weakly electric fish utilizes the electrical pulses of conspecifics to extend electrolocation range, discriminate objects, and increase information transmission. These results suggest a novel, collective mode of active sensing in which individual perception is enhanced by the energy emissions of nearby group members.
包括海豚、蝙蝠和电鱼在内的许多生物都拥有复杂的主动传感系统，这些系统利用自身产生的信号（如声音或电信号发射）来探测环境。对社会群体中主动传感的研究通常集中在将同种信号干扰降至最低的策略上。然而，从工程学角度来看，多个空间分布的发射器和接收器可以极大地增强环境感知能力（例如多基地雷达和声纳）。在此，我们通过建模、神经记录和行为实验提供证据表明，非洲弱电鱼利用同种个体的电脉冲来扩展电定位范围、辨别物体并增加信息传递。这些结果表明了一种全新的集体主动传感模式，即个体感知通过附近群体成员的能量发射得到增强。
