Tracking of small objects in front of a textured background by insects and vertebrates : phenomena and neuronal basis

To follow visually a small object moving in front of a textured background, insects and vertebrates can employ a similar strategy: saccadic tracking. In the case of vertebrates, the neural components that generate this behavior are not known in detail. The neural substrate of optomotor behavior in D...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Biological cybernetics 1994, Vol.70 (5), p.407-415
Main Author: KIRSCHFELD, K
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anatomical correlates of behavior
Animals
Behavioral psychophysiology
Biological and medical sciences
Birds
Diptera
Electrophysiology - methods
Functional Laterality
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Insecta - physiology
Models, Neurological
Motion Perception
Neurons - physiology
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Saccades - physiology
Vertebrata
Vertebrates - physiology
Visual Fields
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Summary:To follow visually a small object moving in front of a textured background, insects and vertebrates can employ a similar strategy: saccadic tracking. In the case of vertebrates, the neural components that generate this behavior are not known in detail. The neural substrate of optomotor behavior in Diptera is relatively well understood. Here a model developed from the dipteran data is found to be capable of saccadic tracking. It is characterized by the following components and functions: (1) Two subsystems contribute to the response, a small-field tracking system and a large-field compensatory optomotor system, as suggested previously (Egelhaaf et al. 1988). (2) Both systems need to be suppressed during saccadic rotation. In the small-field system, the suppression, close to the visual input, is mediated by the activity of the large-field system. In the large-field system, suppression, close to the motor output, is due to efferent signals from the saccade generator. A similar model could also apply to vertebrates. Two implications of the present model are that saccadic tracking does not require object identification, and under saccadic tracking it is the background rather than the object that is stabilized on the retina. If objects are identified under these conditions, this must occur even though their image is not stabilized on the retina.
ISSN:0340-1200
1432-0770
DOI:10.1007/bf00203233