This award supports David Russell, Alexander Neimann and a student from the University of Missouri-Saint Louis in a collaboration with Lutz Schimansky-Geier of the Department of Physics at the Humboldt University in Berlin, Germany. The aim of the international project is to understand the mechanisms of noise-enhanced information encoding in the electrosensory system of paddle fish. The fish represents a naturally designed passive radar system with 65 million years of evolution. Tens of thousands of electrorecptors are populated on the elongated rostrum of paddlefish, which acts as a an antenna in plankton feeding. Electrophysiological experiments and the results of previous behavioral experiments will provide information for models and parameters of the electrosensory system. The collaboration will combine the theoretical modeling of stochastic resonance by the German group and experimental study and testing of the theoretical predictions in the US laboratory. The work plan provides for participation by postdoctoral students in the international travel and research.
