navigation and homing Flashcards
define navigation
the animals ability to make its way to a desired location
define homing
the animals ability to use navigation to return home
define migration
seasonal movement of animals from one region to another
what is path integration ?
the ability to return to a starting point after visiting several location in the environment without aid of an external cue
calculations usually based on distance and direction
path integration, neural evidence
place cells determine current location
head direction cells compute the travel direction
grid cells mark the distance travelled
the input signals for path integration of invertebrates and vertebrates
invertebrate = number of steps and optic flow
vertebrates = optic flow, proprioception, motor commands and the vestibular system
what is compasses?
the ability to use planetary/exo-planetary cues to efficiently move from one location to another
(heading info/duration info)
what species use a sun and magnetic compass?
bees and pigeons use the position of the sun and polarised light to determine direction
pigeons and garden warblers also use magnetic field to determine direction
what are landmarks?
an object or gradient in the environment that aids an individual to navigate to z particular location
types of landmarks …
beacon, such as an dour
landmark en route, such as bearing at a landmark
postion fixing, encoding landmarks around the goal location, could do this by view matching
Landmark use in gerbils …
use object cues
circular arena, with a cylindrical object and food located near it. they search around object despite changes in object size
landmark use in rats …
they use geometric cues
rectangular box with odour and visual cues with food in the corner, they selected the correct corner or diagonal opposite
what was the tolman and hull controversy?
Tulman thought that rats solved the mazes by encoding the layout (cognitive map)
Hull thought that rats solved the mazes by turning left or right. That it was a stimulus-response association
alternative to a cognitive map
bi-coordinate map (direction of home from A)
mosaic map (direction home from multiple points)
network map (all known routes between locations)
planning and inference strategies …
- least distance strategy (seeing vervet monkeys, travelling efficiently)
- detours and shortcuts (chimpanzees and rats, travelled efficiently to new locations)
