Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute, Department of Neuroscience, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA.
Nature. 2024 Apr;628(8006):139-144. doi: 10.1038/s41586-024-07157-x. Epub 2024 Mar 6.
A number of organisms, including dolphins, bats and electric fish, possess sophisticated active sensory systems that use self-generated signals (for example, 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 (for example, multistatic radar and sonar). Here we provide evidence from modelling, neural recordings and behavioural experiments that the African weakly electric fish Gnathonemus petersii utilizes the electrical pulses of conspecifics to extend its electrolocation range, discriminate objects and increase information transmission. These results provide evidence for a new, 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感知系统，它们利用自身产生的信号（例如声或电信号）来探测环境。对社会群体中的主动感知的研究通常集中于最小化同种生物排放物干扰的策略。然而，工程学中已经充分证明，多个空间分布式发射器和接收器可以极大地增强环境感知（例如多基地雷达和声纳）。在这里，我们通过建模、神经记录和行为实验提供了证据，表明非洲弱电鱼 Gnathonemus petersii 利用同种生物的电脉冲来扩展其电定位范围、区分物体和增加信息传输。这些结果为一种新的集体主动感知模式提供了证据，即个体感知通过附近群体成员的能量排放得到增强。
