title: Neural correlations enable invariant coding and perception of natural stimuli in weakly electric fish.
abstract: Neural representations of behaviorally relevant stimulus features displaying invariance with respect to different contexts are essential for perception. However, the mechanisms mediating their emergence and subsequent refinement remain poorly understood in general. Here, we demonstrate that correlated neural activity allows for the emergence of an invariant representation of natural communication stimuli that is further refined across successive stages of processing in the weakly electric fish Apteronotus leptorhynchus. Importantly, different patterns of input resulting from the same natural communication stimulus occurring in different contexts all gave rise to similar behavioral responses. Our results thus reveal how a generic neural circuit performs an elegant computation that mediates the emergence and refinement of an invariant neural representation of natural stimuli that most likely constitutes a neural correlate of perception.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, McGill University, Montreal, Canada.
authors.forename: Michael G
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-2365-4192
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Metzen
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, McGill University, Montreal, Canada.
authors.forename: Volker
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-5149-603X
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Hofmann
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, McGill University, Montreal, Canada.
authors.forename: Maurice J
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-3032-452X
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Chacron
mesh_terms: D000819:Animal Communication; D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D004555:Electric Fish / Q000502:physiology*; D004574:Electromagnetic Fields; D023702:Gymnotiformes / Q000502:physiology*; D010465:Perception
keywords: Apteronotus leptorhynchus; computational biology; electrosensory; neuroscience; systems biology; weakly electric fish