Presentation Details
| Visual prey categorization in the jumping spider brain Alex M Winsor1, Luke Remage-Healey2, Ronald R Hoy3, Elizabeth M Jakob4. 1Graduate Program in Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA, USA.2Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA, USA.3Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA.4Department of Biology, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA, USA |
Abstract
Many animals use vision to classify objects, including palatable and aposematic prey that signal unpalatability. How predators use and represent this information in the brain remains unclear. We address these questions in jumping spiders, visual predators of insects that vary widely in value and appearance. These spiders have motion-detecting secondary eyes and principal eyes that provide high-resolution color vision, with retinas that move to scan objects. We presented Phidippus audax with diverse images of palatable and aposematic insects while tracking their behavior. We then monitored gaze using an eyetracker while recording neural activity from lower- and higher-order visual brain areas. Spiders viewed the same prey images and simplified and category-control stimuli to test whether responses depend on features or categories. Behaviorally, spiders were more likely to orient toward and spent longer inspecting palatable than aposematic prey. Among neurons recorded across brain areas, firing rates were ~3x higher for palatable versus unpalatable prey. Overall, these results reveal neural correlates of prey categorization that may inform decision-making in an invertebrate predator.
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No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author.
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