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Related Experiment Videos

The jamming avoidance response in Eigenmannia is controlled by two separate motor pathways

W Metzner1

  • 1University of California at San Diego, Neurobiology Unit, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla 92093-0202.

The Journal of Neuroscience : the Official Journal of the Society for Neuroscience
|May 1, 1993
PubMed
Summary
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Electric fish use a jamming avoidance response (JAR) to prevent signal interference. This study reveals JAR is controlled by two distinct motor pathways, not a single neural unit, operating on a push-pull principle.

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Animal Behavior
  • Bioelectricity

Background:

  • Gymnotiform fish, like Eigenmannia, use electric organ discharges (EODs) for sensing and communication.
  • The jamming avoidance response (JAR) allows fish to adjust their EOD frequency to avoid interference from conspecifics.
  • Previously, the diencephalic prepacemaker nucleus (PPn-G) was thought to control JAR by extracting frequency difference features.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate an alternative mechanism for the motor control of the jamming avoidance response (JAR).
  • To explore the roles of the PPn-G and the sublemniscal prepacemaker nucleus (SPPn) in JAR.
  • To identify the neurotransmitters and pathways involved in JAR control.

Main Methods:

  • Selective lesions of the PPn-G and SPPn in Eigenmannia.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Observation of the effects of these lesions on the jamming avoidance response.
  • Pharmacological experiments to determine the involvement of specific neurotransmitters (AMPA and NMDA receptors, GABA).

    • Main Results:

    • The JAR is controlled by two separate motor pathways originating in the nucleus electrosensorius.
    • One pathway, utilizing AMPA receptors, controls frequency increases via excitatory connections to the PPn-G.
    • A second pathway, using GABAergic input to the SPPn and NMDA receptors, controls frequency decreases.

    Conclusions:

    • The motor control of JAR does not rely on a single population of feature-extracting neurons.
    • JAR is orchestrated by a push-pull interaction between two independent motor pathways.
    • The SPPn is tonically active and influences EOD frequency even without jamming signals.