Retinal degenerative diseases may induce the degeneration of outer retina and in turn,blindness.Nevertheless,due to the maintenance of inner retina,the coding and processing of visual neurons responses are still able ...Retinal degenerative diseases may induce the degeneration of outer retina and in turn,blindness.Nevertheless,due to the maintenance of inner retina,the coding and processing of visual neurons responses are still able to be executed naturally.Therefore,an effective retinal prosthesis device may be developed by mimicking the function of outer retina:transferring the visual light into artificial stimulus and delivering the stimulus to the retina aiming to evoke the neural responses.As two main developing directions for current retinal prosthesis,epiretinal(ER)and subretinal(SR)prosthesis are both undergoing experimental stage and possessing advantages and limitations.Further investigations in power supply,biocompatibility,etc.are still required.Additionally,suprachoroidal transretinal stimulation(STS)and neurotransmitter-induced stimulation as some other alternatives in retinal prosthesis are also considered as promising research directions,although they are not mature enough to be applied commercially,either.展开更多
Disentangling the influence of multiple signal components on receivers and elucidating general processes influencing complex signal evolution are difficult tasks. In this study we test mate preferences of female squir...Disentangling the influence of multiple signal components on receivers and elucidating general processes influencing complex signal evolution are difficult tasks. In this study we test mate preferences of female squirrel treefrogs Hyla squirella and female tungara frogs Physalaemus pustulosus for similar combinations of acoustic and visual components of their multimodal courtship signals. In a two-choice playback experiment with squirrel treefrogs, the visual stimulus of a male model significantly increased the attractivness of a relatively unattractive slow call rate. A previous study demonstrated that faster call rates are more attractive to female squirrel treefrogs, and all else being equal, models of male frogs with large body stripes are more attractive. In a similar experiment with female tungara frogs, the visual stimulus of a robotic frog failed to increase the attractiveness of a relatively unattractive call. Females also showed no preference for the distinct stripe on the robot that males commonly bear on their throat. Thus, features of conspicuous signal components such as body stripes are not universally important and signal function is likely to differ even among species with similar ecologies and communication systems. Finally, we discuss the putative information content of anuran signals and suggest that the categorization of redundant versus multiple messages may not be sufficient as a general explanation for the evolution of multimodal signaling. Instead of relying on untested assumptions concerning the information content of signals, we discuss the value of initially collecting comparative empirical data sets related to receiver responses.展开更多
文摘Retinal degenerative diseases may induce the degeneration of outer retina and in turn,blindness.Nevertheless,due to the maintenance of inner retina,the coding and processing of visual neurons responses are still able to be executed naturally.Therefore,an effective retinal prosthesis device may be developed by mimicking the function of outer retina:transferring the visual light into artificial stimulus and delivering the stimulus to the retina aiming to evoke the neural responses.As two main developing directions for current retinal prosthesis,epiretinal(ER)and subretinal(SR)prosthesis are both undergoing experimental stage and possessing advantages and limitations.Further investigations in power supply,biocompatibility,etc.are still required.Additionally,suprachoroidal transretinal stimulation(STS)and neurotransmitter-induced stimulation as some other alternatives in retinal prosthesis are also considered as promising research directions,although they are not mature enough to be applied commercially,either.
文摘Disentangling the influence of multiple signal components on receivers and elucidating general processes influencing complex signal evolution are difficult tasks. In this study we test mate preferences of female squirrel treefrogs Hyla squirella and female tungara frogs Physalaemus pustulosus for similar combinations of acoustic and visual components of their multimodal courtship signals. In a two-choice playback experiment with squirrel treefrogs, the visual stimulus of a male model significantly increased the attractivness of a relatively unattractive slow call rate. A previous study demonstrated that faster call rates are more attractive to female squirrel treefrogs, and all else being equal, models of male frogs with large body stripes are more attractive. In a similar experiment with female tungara frogs, the visual stimulus of a robotic frog failed to increase the attractiveness of a relatively unattractive call. Females also showed no preference for the distinct stripe on the robot that males commonly bear on their throat. Thus, features of conspicuous signal components such as body stripes are not universally important and signal function is likely to differ even among species with similar ecologies and communication systems. Finally, we discuss the putative information content of anuran signals and suggest that the categorization of redundant versus multiple messages may not be sufficient as a general explanation for the evolution of multimodal signaling. Instead of relying on untested assumptions concerning the information content of signals, we discuss the value of initially collecting comparative empirical data sets related to receiver responses.
