title: Perception of Fourier and non-Fourier motion by larval zebrafish.
abstract: A moving grating elicits innate optomotor behavior in zebrafish larvae; they swim in the direction of perceived motion. We took advantage of this behavior, using computer-animated displays, to determine what attributes of motion are extracted by the fish visual system. As in humans, first-order (luminance-defined or Fourier) signals dominated motion perception in fish; edges or other features had little or no effect when presented with these signals. Humans can see complex movements that lack first-order cues, an ability that is usually ascribed to higher-level processing in the visual cortex. Here we show that second-order (non-Fourier) motion displays induced optomotor behavior in zebrafish larvae, which do not have a cortex. We suggest that second-order motion is extracted early in the lower vertebrate visual pathway.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology and Program in Neuroscience, University of California at San Francisco, Box 0444, Room S762, 513, Parnassus, San Francisco, California 94143-0444, USA.
authors.forename: M B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Orger
authors.forename: M C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Smear
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Anstis
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Baier
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D007814:Larva / Q000502:physiology; D009039:Motion Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000379:methods*; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology; D015027:Zebrafish / Q000502:physiology*