Objective Animal behaviour relies on the integration of input of a number of external as well as internal sensory sources. The assembly of this information into a coherent and useful view of the external world is a basic challenge for the brain and a major focus of cognitive neuroscience (e.g. Stein and Meredith, 1993). Here we propose a project exploring the "merging of visual and electrosensory senses" in the weakly electric fish G. petersii. This animal is a promising model as electrophysiological and behavioural experiments can easily be conducted. Furthermore there is a huge knowledge concerning the basic principles of electrosensory information processing. Given the striking similarities in decoding of the electric sense and vision, the aim of the proposed study is to investigate how the brain encodes electrosensory and visual stimuli in G. petersii.The similarities in decoding strategies of both sensory systems will further be exploited to investigate the role of multi-modal integration for orientation in the three-dimensional world. Recent findings (Ulbricht et al. 2003) suggest that the retinal morphology of Gnathonemus represents an adaptation to the turbid waters in which these fish live. Rather than being optimised in respect of light sensitivity, the retina of Gnathonemus seems to be specialized to detect moving and/or large objects within an extremely rough-screen image (turbid environment). It is hypothesized that the unusual morphology of the retina represents a peripheral filter for the detection of "relevant" objects (e. g., predators) whereas the rich background of small "irrelevant" environmental constituents is 'filtered out' of the image. Consequently it is expected that the organisation of the TO is optimised for the analysis of moving objects in turbid scenarios. In contrast to other teleosts, the TO of Gnathonemus is relatively small and the termination of retinal afferents is limited to a single layer (Lazaret) Fields of science natural sciencesbiological sciencesneurobiologycognitive neurosciencehumanitiesartsvisual artsmedical and health sciencesclinical medicineophthalmologynatural sciencesbiological sciencesbiological behavioural sciencesethologynatural sciencescomputer and information sciencesdata sciencedata processing Programme(s) FP6-MOBILITY - Human resources and Mobility in the specific programme for research, technological development and demonstration "Structuring the European Research Area" under the Sixth Framework Programme 2002-2006 Topic(s) MOBILITY-4.1 - Marie Curie European Reintegration Grants (ERG) Call for proposal FP6-2002-MOBILITY-11 See other projects for this call Funding Scheme ERG - Marie Curie actions-European Re-integration Grants Coordinator RHEINISCHE FRIEDRICH-WILHELMS-UNIVERSITÄT BONN EU contribution No data Address Regina-Pacis-Weg 3 BONN Germany See on map Links Website Opens in new window Total cost No data