title: Active sensing: Pre-receptor mechanisms and behavior in electric fish.
abstract: Weakly electric fish perceive their actively generated electrical field with cutaneous electroreceptors. This active sensory system is used both for orientation and for communication. In a recent paper1 we focussed on how anatomical adaptations (pre-receptor mechanisms), biophysical constraints and behavior all contribute to active electrolocation, i.e., the fishes' unique ability to determine and distinguish the electrical properties of objects based on the modulation of a self-generated carrier signal, the so-called electric organ discharge.
authors.affiliation: University of Bonn; Institute of Zoology; Department Neuroethology & Sensory Ecology; Bonn Germany.
authors.forename: Jacob
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Engelmann
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pusch
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: von der Emde
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