This research project involves the investigation of anatomical connections of higher visual centers and their role in prey-catching and innate avoidance behaviors in the longnose gar, Lepisosteus osseus. The gar was chosen because it is a highly visual predator whose visual dependent behaviors can be manipulated in the laboratory with dummy stimuli, and because its primary retinal and tectal pathways are known. Anatomical experiments have been underway to determine the nature of secondary visual pathways to the optic tectum and telencephalon using autoradiographic and horseradish peroxidase tracing methods, and the 2-deoxy-D-glucose method has recently been incorporated to aid in defining the central pathways. Behavioral experiments have been designed to examine the relevant visual parameters of prey-catching and avoidance stimuli, and the role -- revealed by ablational experiments -- of the tectum, pretectum, and telencephalon in mediating such behaviors in gars.
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