Optimality in mono- and multisensory map formation.

In the struggle for survival in a complex and dynamic environment, nature has developed a multitude of sophisticated sensory systems. In order to exploit the information provided by these sensory systems, higher vertebrates reconstruct the spatio-temporal environment from each of the sensory systems they have at their disposal. That is, for each modality the animal computes a neuronal representation of the outside world, a monosensory neuronal map.

How stimulus shape affects lateral-line perception: analytical approach to analyze natural stimuli characteristics.

We revisit the method of conformal mapping and apply it to the setting found in mechanosensory detection systems such as the lateral-line system of fish. We derive easy-to-use equations capable of describing analytically the influence of the stimulus shape on the flow field and thus on the input to the lateral line. The present approach shows that the shape of a submerged moving object affects its perception if its distance to a detecting animal does not exceed the object's body length.

Hydrodynamic object recognition: when multipoles count.

The lateral-line system is a unique mechanosensory facility of aquatic animals that enables them not only to localize prey, predator, obstacles, and conspecifics, but also to recognize hydrodynamic objects. Here we present an explicit model explaining how aquatic animals such as fish can distinguish differently shaped submerged moving objects. Our model is based on the hydrodynamic multipole expansion and uses the unambiguous set of multipole components to identify the corresponding object.

Snake's perspective on heat: reconstruction of input using an imperfect detection system.

Two groups of snakes possess an infrared detection system that is used to create a heat image of their environment. In this Letter we present an explicit reconstruction model, the "virtual lens," which explains how a snake can overcome the optical limitations of a wide aperture pinhole camera, and how ensuing properties of the receptive fields on the infrared-sensitive membrane may explain the behavioral performance of this sensory system. Our model explores the optical quality of the infrared system by detailing how a functional representation of the thermal properties of the environment can be created.

Estimating position and velocity of a submerged moving object by the clawed frog Xenopus and by fish--a cybernetic approach.

The lateral-line system is a unique facility of aquatic animals to locate predator, prey, or conspecifics. We present a detailed model of how the clawed frog Xenopus, or fish, can localize submerged moving objects in three dimensions by using their lateral-line system. In so doing we develop two models of a slightly different nature.