behavioral neurobiology Flashcards
what is neuroethology
study of the neural basis of behavior
what is a feature detector
neural mechanisms for identifying important stimuli
FAP of toad fly
- find visual target
- turn to face prey
- shoot out tongue
- retract tongue
- close eyes
- swallows
- wipes mouth
where are the toad’s feature detectors
built into their eyes and central nervous system
what is lateral inhibition
mutual inhibition between neighboring cells in a sensory system
in the visual system, this enhances edges and improves shape detection
what matters for frog to detect prey
the elongation of the object in relation to its direction of movement (composite stimulus)
what neurons do frogs use
tectal class T5(2) neurons
what is a sensory system
device for extracting relevant information and throwing information away
what is a male-male response mean in frogs
it is an evoked vocal response meaning they will only sing in response to another male’s song of their own species
why is the detector in frogs’ eyes and not their brain
it’s faster, and able to filter info not important and only send important info to brain
what is a central pattern generator
a neural circuit producing a complex, coordinated motor pattern
-eg: cricket song, produced by males Stridulation
-central pattern generator: thoracic ganglia
what is echolocation
production of sounds to image the environment
what is motivation
an animal’s responsiveness to particular stimuli as determined by its physiological state
what did wallace craig find
appetitive behavior –> consummatory act –> quiescence (inactivity)
