IBN-9723562 PI: Saidel Some animals live at the interface between the two different environments of air and water and demonstrate sensory specializations for detecting signals from the two environments. One such example is a fish that lives just below the water surface and feeds at the surface, while needing to escape predators (such as birds) that strike from above the surface. This project investigates how different objects above the fish may be lead to behaviors of feeding or of escape, depending on size, motion, and presence in the visual field of both eyes. Videotaping of behavioral responses to diverse targets will be used to characterize the features important to these opposite responses. Anatomical studies suggest that this fish has an unusual visual pathway connecting to a special visual center in the brain, and this work will examine the details of connections of this visual pathway from and to other visual centers. This integrated multi-disciplinary approach to a novel visual system will have impact on our understanding how brain structure is related to behavior, and by being in the category of Research at Undergraduate Institutions it will have a substantial impact on getting undergraduates interested and trained in high-quality research in neuroscience.
