Central control of electric signaling behavior in the mormyrid Brienomyrus brachyistius: segregation of behavior-specific inputs and the role of modifiable recurrent inhibition

Modeling the Sequential Pattern Variability of the Electromotor Command System of Pulse Electric Fish

Mormyridae, a family of weakly electric fish, use electric pulses for communication and for extracting information from the environment (active electroreception). The electromotor system controls the timing of pulse generation. Ethological studies have described several sequences of pulse intervals (SPIs) related to distinct behaviors (e.g., mating or exploratory behaviors). Accelerations, scallops, rasps, and cessations are four different SPI patterns reported in these fish, each showing characteristic stereotyped temporal structures. This article presents a computational model of the electromotor command circuit that reproduces a whole set of SPI patterns while keeping the same internal network configuration. The topology of the model is based on a simplified representation of the network with four neuron clusters (nuclei). An initial configuration was built to reproduce nucleus characteristics and network topology as described by detailed morphological and electrophysiological studies. Then, a methodology based on a genetic algorithm (GA) was developed and applied to tune the model connectivity parameters to automatically reproduce a whole set of patterns recorded from freely-behaving Gnathonemus petersii specimens. Robustness analyses of input variability were performed to discard overfitting and assess validity. Results show that the set of SPI patterns is consistently reproduced reaching a dynamic balance between synaptic properties in the network. This model can be used as a tool to test novel hypotheses regarding temporal structure in electrogeneration. Beyond the electromotor model itself, the proposed methodology can be adapted to fit models of other biological networks that also exhibit sequential patterns.

A History of Corollary Discharge: Contributions of Mormyrid Weakly Electric Fish

Corollary discharge is an important brain function that allows animals to distinguish external from self-generated signals, which is critical to sensorimotor coordination. Since discovery of the concept of corollary discharge in 1950, neuroscientists have sought to elucidate underlying neural circuits and mechanisms. Here, we review a history of neurophysiological studies on corollary discharge and highlight significant contributions from studies using African mormyrid weakly electric fish. Mormyrid fish generate brief electric pulses to communicate with other fish and to sense their surroundings. In addition, mormyrids can passively locate weak, external electric signals. These three behaviors are mediated by different corollary discharge functions including inhibition, enhancement, and predictive “negative image” generation. Owing to several experimental advantages of mormyrids, investigations of these mechanisms have led to important general principles that have proven applicable to a wide diversity of animal species.

Short-Term Synaptic Plasticity as a Mechanism for Sensory Timing

The ability to detect time intervals and temporal patterns is critical to some of the most fundamental computations the brain performs, including the ability to communicate and appraise a dynamically changing environment. Many of these computations take place on the scale of tens to hundreds of milliseconds. Electrophysiological evidence shows that some neurons respond selectively to duration, interval, rate, or order. Because the time constants of many time-varying neural and synaptic properties, including short-term synaptic plasticity (STP), are also in the range of tens to hundreds of milliseconds, they are strong candidates to underlie the formation of temporally selective neurons. Neurophysiological studies indicate that STP is indeed one of the mechanisms that contributes to temporal selectivity, and computational models demonstrate that neurons embedded in local microcircuits exhibit temporal selectivity if their synapses undergo STP. Converging evidence suggests that some forms of temporal selectivity emerge from the dynamic changes in the balance of excitation and inhibition imposed by STP.

Social interactions between live and artificial weakly electric fish: Electrocommunication and locomotor behavior of Mormyrus rume proboscirostris towards a mobile dummy fish

Mormyrid weakly electric fish produce short, pulse-type electric organ discharges for actively probing their environment and to communicate with conspecifics. Animals emit sequences of pulse-trains that vary in overall frequency and temporal patterning and can lead to time-locked interactions with the discharge activity of other individuals. Both active electrolocation and electrocommunication are additionally accompanied by stereotypical locomotor patterns. However, the concrete roles of electrical and locomotor patterns during social interactions in mormyrids are not well understood. Here we used a mobile fish dummy that was emitting different types of electrical playback sequences to study following behavior and interaction patterns (electrical and locomotor) between individuals of weakly electric fish. We confronted single individuals of Mormyrus rume proboscirostris with a mobile dummy fish designed to attract fish from a shelter and recruit them into an open area by emitting electrical playbacks of natural discharge sequences. We found that fish were reliably recruited by the mobile dummy if it emitted electrical signals and followed it largely independently of the presented playback patterns. While following the dummy, fish interacted with it spatially by displaying stereotypical motor patterns, as well as electrically, e.g. through discharge regularizations and by synchronizing their own discharge activity to the playback. However, the overall emission frequencies of the dummy were not adopted by the following fish. Instead, social signals based on different temporal patterns were emitted depending on the type of playback. In particular, double pulses were displayed in response to electrical signaling of the dummy and their expression was positively correlated with an animals' rank in the dominance hierarchy. Based on additional analysis of swimming trajectories and stereotypical locomotor behavior patterns, we conclude that the reception and emission of electrical communication signals play a crucial role in mediating social interactions in mormyrid weakly electric fish.

Multiplexed temporal coding of electric communication signals in mormyrid fishes

The coding of stimulus information into patterns of spike times occurs widely in sensory systems. Determining how temporally coded information is decoded by central neurons is essential to understanding how brains process sensory stimuli. Mormyrid weakly electric fishes are experts at time coding, making them an exemplary organism for addressing this question. Mormyrids generate brief, stereotyped electric pulses. Pulse waveform carries information about sender identity, and it is encoded into submillisecond-to-millisecond differences in spike timing between receptors. Mormyrids vary the time between pulses to communicate behavioral state, and these intervals are encoded into the sequence of interspike intervals within receptors. Thus, the responses of peripheral electroreceptors establish a temporally multiplexed code for communication signals, one consisting of spike timing differences between receptors and a second consisting of interspike intervals within receptors. These signals are processed in a dedicated sensory pathway, and recent studies have shed light on the mechanisms by which central circuits can extract behaviorally relevant information from multiplexed temporal codes. Evolutionary change in the anatomy of this pathway is related to differences in electrosensory perception, which appears to have influenced the diversification of electric signals and species. However, it remains unknown how this evolutionary change relates to differences in sensory coding schemes, neuronal circuitry and central sensory processing. The mormyrid electric communication pathway is a powerful model for integrating mechanistic studies of temporal coding with evolutionary studies of correlated differences in brain and behavior to investigate neural mechanisms for processing temporal codes.

From sequence to spike to spark: evo-devo-neuroethology of electric communication in mormyrid fishes

Mormyrid fishes communicate using pulses of electricity, conveying information about their identity, behavioral state, and location. They have long been used as neuroethological model systems because they are uniquely suited to identifying cellular mechanisms for behavior. They are also remarkably diverse, and they have recently emerged as a model system for studying how communication systems may influence the process of speciation. These two lines of inquiry have now converged, generating insights into the neural basis of evolutionary change in behavior, as well as the influence of sensory and motor systems on behavioral diversification and speciation. Here, we review the mechanisms of electric signal generation, reception, and analysis and relate these to our current understanding of the evolution and development of electromotor and electrosensory systems. We highlight the enormous potential of mormyrids for studying evolutionary developmental mechanisms of behavioral diversification, and make the case for developing genomic and transcriptomic resources. A complete mormyrid genome sequence would enable studies that extend our understanding of mormyrid behavior to the molecular level by linking morphological and physiological mechanisms to their genetic basis. Applied in a comparative framework, genomic resources would facilitate analysis of evolutionary processes underlying mormyrid diversification, reveal the genetic basis of species differences in behavior, and illuminate the origins of a novel vertebrate sensory and motor system. Genomic approaches to studying the evo-devo-neuroethology of mormyrid communication represent a deeply integrative approach to understanding the evolution, function, development, and mechanisms of behavior.

How do short-term changes at synapses fine-tune information processing?

Synaptic transmission is highly dependent on recent activity and can lead to depression or facilitation of synaptic strength. This phenomenon is called "short-term synaptic plasticity" and is shown at all synapses. While much work has been done to understand the mechanisms of short-term changes in the state of synapses, short-term plasticity is often thought of as a mechanistic consequence of the design of a synapse. This review will attempt to go beyond this view and discuss how, on one hand, complex neuronal activity affects the short-term state of synapses, but also how these dynamic changes in synaptic strength affect information processing in return.

Temporal selectivity in midbrain electrosensory neurons identified by modal variation in active sensing

Mormyrid weakly electric fish actively sense their surroundings by continuously emitting discrete pulses of electricity separated by varying intervals of silence. The temporal pattern of this pulsing behavior is related to context. While resting in the absence of an overt stimulus, baseline interpulse intervals (IPIs) mostly range 200-450 ms, and sequential variation is relatively high. Spontaneously, or following the presentation of a novel stimulus, IPIs transiently shorten during the performance of an electromotor "burst" display. We made intracellular whole cell recordings in vivo from neurons in the lateral nucleus of the torus semicircularis while the fish's dynamic pulsing behavior modified the temporal pattern of stimulation. Stimulation was designed to simulate the spatial patterns of AM that occur during the electrolocation of a resistive object. We discovered that toral neurons selectively respond to stimulation during a particular mode of electromotor activity. Two types of temporally selective neurons were discovered: baseline-selective neurons that displayed significantly higher postsynaptic potential (PSP) amplitude and spike count per electric organ discharge (EOD) during baseline electromotor activity and burst-selective neurons that displayed significantly higher PSP amplitude and spike count per EOD during electromotor burst displays. Interval-dependent changes in the strength of excitation and inhibition contributed to their selectivity.

Interruption of pacemaker signals is mediated by GABAergic inhibition of the pacemaker nucleus in the African electric fish Gymnarchus niloticus

The wave-type African weakly electric fish Gymnarchus niloticus produces electric organ discharges (EODs) from an electric organ in the tail that is driven by a pacemaker complex in the medulla, which consists of a pacemaker nucleus, two lateral relay nuclei and a medial relay nucleus. The prepacemaker nucleus (PPn) in the area of the dorsal posterior nucleus of the thalamus projects exclusively to the pacemaker nucleus and is responsible for EOD interruption behavior. The goal of the present study is to test the existence of inhibition of the pacemaker nucleus by the PPn. Immunohistochemical results showed clear anti-GABA immunoreactive labeling of fibers and terminals in the pacemaker nucleus, but no apparent anti-glycine immunoreactivity anywhere in the pacemaker complex. GABA injection into the pacemaker nucleus could induce EOD interruptions that are comparable to the interruptions induced by glutamate injection into the PPn. Application of the GABA(A) receptor blocker bicuculline methiodide reversibly eliminated the effects of stimulation of the PPn. Thus the EOD interruption behavior in Gymnarchus is mediated through GABAergic inhibition of the pacemaker nucleus by the PPn.

Interruption of pacemaker signals by a diencephalic nucleus in the African electric fish, Gymnarchus niloticus

The African electric fish Gymnarchus niloticus rhythmically emits electric organ discharges (EODs) for communication and navigation. The EODs are generated by the electric organ in the tail in response to the command signals from the medullary pacemaker complex, which consists of a pacemaker nucleus (PN), two lateral relay nuclei (LRN) and a medial relay nucleus (MRN). The premotor structure and its modulatory influences on the pacemaker complex have been investigated in this paper. A bilateral prepacemaker nucleus (PPn) was found in the area of the dorsal posterior nucleus (DP) of the thalamus by retrograde labeling from the PN. No retrogradely labeled neurons outside the pacemaker complex were found after tracer injection into the LRN or MRN. Accordingly, anterogradely labeled terminal fibers from PPn neurons were found only in the PN. Iontophoresis of L-glutamate into the region of the PPn induced EOD interruptions. Despite the exclusive projection of the PPn neurons to the PN, extracellular and intracellular recordings showed that PN neurons continue their firing while MRN neurons ceased their firing during EOD interruption. This mode of EOD interruption differs from those found in any other weakly electric fishes in which EOD cessation mechanisms have been known.

Sensory and motor effects of etomidate anesthesia

The effects of anesthesia with etomidate on the cellular mechanisms of sensory processing and sensorimotor coordination have been studied in the active electric sense of the mormyrid fish Gnathonemus petersii. Like many anesthetics, etomidate is known to potentiate GABA(A) receptors, but little is known about the effects on sensory processing at the systems level. A better understanding is necessary for experimental studies of sensory processing, in particular regarding possible effects on the dynamic structure of excitatory and inhibitory receptive fields and to improve the knowledge of the mechanisms of anesthesia in general. Etomidate slowed the electromotor discharge rhythm, probably because of feedback inhibition at the premotor level, but did not alter the structure of the electromotor command. Sensory translation through primary afferents projecting to the cerebellum-like electrosensory lobe (ELL) was not changed. However, central interneurons and projection neurons were hyperpolarized under etomidate, and their spiking activity was reduced. Although the spatial extent and the center/surround organization of sensory receptive fields were not changed, initial excitatory responses were followed by prolonged inhibition. Corollary discharge input to ELL was maintained, and the temporal sequence of excitatory and inhibitory components of this descending signal remained intact. Later inhibitory corollary discharge responses were prolonged by several hundred milliseconds. The result was that excitatory reafferent sensory input was conserved with enhanced precision of timing, whereas background activity was greatly reduced. Anti-Hebbian synaptic plasticity evoked by association of sensory and corollary discharge input was still present under anesthesia, and differences compared with the nonanesthetized condition are discussed.