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Information Processing by the Lateral Line System

  • Chapter
Sensory Processing in Aquatic Environments

Abstract

This review covers four areas of research that have fruitfully contributed to our understanding of lateral line function within the past 10 years. One striking aspect of the lateral line system is its tremendous diversity. Recent findings, however, indicate a functional constancy that may be maintained by relatively subtle morphological features. Other morphological variations have been shown to enhance sensitivity at particular frequency bandwidths. A second area of research has focused on hydrodynamic imaging and the peripheral patterns of receptor excitation that might encode stimulus features such as amplitude, distance, location, and direction of motion. A detailed model is described and provides several predictions for the types of information passed from the periphery to the central nervous system (CNS).The third topic covered is the mechanisms that enhance signal detection in noisy backgrounds. It is becoming clear that canals act as biomechanical filters to improve signal-to-noise ratios in the presence of lowfrequency noises such as uniform, ambient water motions. Two central mechanisms, efferent modulation of receptor excitation and a central dynamic filter mechanism, have been shown to reduce reafference due to self-generated noise and may enhance signal detection in general. The second central mechanism is postulated to be similar to the anti-hebbian learning mechanism that has been well documented within the related electrosensory system. Finally, this review covers the recently documented roles of the lateral line system in natural behaviors, including courtship and prey capture. Some of these recent studies have led to the exciting conclusion that the lateral line may be composed of two distinct information channels, one served by canal and the other by superficial neuromasts, and that each may be dedicated to different behavioral tasks.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Parmly Hearing Institute, Loyola University, Chicago, IL, 60626, USA

    Sheryl Coombs & Christopher B. Braun

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  1. Sheryl Coombs
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  2. Christopher B. Braun
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anatomy and Developmental Biology, School of Biomedical Sciences University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, 4072, Australia

    Shaun P. Collin

  2. Vision Touch and Hearing Research Centre School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, 4072, Australia

    N. Justin Marshall

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Coombs, S., Braun, C.B. (2003). Information Processing by the Lateral Line System. In: Collin, S.P., Marshall, N.J. (eds) Sensory Processing in Aquatic Environments. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-22628-6_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-22628-6_7

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