Sensory processing in the fast electrosensory pathway of pulse gymnotids studied at multiple integrative levels

Pulse gymnotids extract information about the environment using the pulsed discharge of an electric organ. Cutaneous electroreceptor organs transduce and encode the changes that objects imprint on the self-generated transcutaneous electric field. This review deals with the role of a neural circuit, the fast electrosensory path of pulse gymnotids, in the streaming of self generated electrosensory signals. The activation of this path triggers a low-responsiveness window slightly shorter than the interval between electric organ discharges. This phenomenon occurs at the electrosensory lateral line lobe where primary afferent terminals project on the somata of spherical neurons. The main subservient mechanism of the low-responsiveness window rely on the intrinsic properties of spherical neurons (dominated by a voltage dependent, low-threshold, non-inactivating and slowly-deactivating K(+) conductance) determining the cell to respond with a single spike followed by a long refractory period. Externally generated signals that randomly occur within the interval between self-generated discharges are likely blocked by the low responsiveness window. Repetitive signals, as those emitted by conspecifics with a slightly lower rate, occur progressively at longer delays beyond the duration of the low responsiveness window. Transient increases of the discharge rate relocate the interference within the low-responsiveness window. We propose that this combination of sensory filtering and electromotor control favors the self-generated signals in detriment of other, securing the continuity of the electrolocation stream.