How mantis shrimp make sense of the world

A new study provides insight into how the small brains of mantis shrimp -- fierce predators with keen vision -- may process and integrate visual information with other sensory input.

Close-up of the unique architecture of the mantis shrimp eye. Photo: Roy L. Caldwell/University of California, Berkeley)

A team of researchers examined the neuronal organization of mantis shrimp and discovered a region of their brain called the reniform body.

Nicholas Strausfeld of the University of Arizona teamed up with other researchers to better understand how the reniform bodies connect to other parts of the mantis shrimp brain.

Mantis shrimp eyes have stereoscopic vision and possess a band of photoreceptors that can distinguish up to 12 different wavelengths and linear and circular polarized light. Mantis shrimp seem to be able to process all the different channels of information with the participation of the reniform body.

A crucial finding was that neural connections link the reniform bodies to centers called mushroom bodies, iconic structures of arthropod brains that are required for olfactory learning and memory.

"The fact that we were now able to demonstrate that the reniform body is also connected to the mushroom body and provides information to it suggests that olfactory processing may take place in the context of already established visual memories," said Strausfeld.

"This work by Professor Strausfeld and his colleagues is part of a larger innovative project to better understand the organization and evolution of the brains of invertebrates. It provides a wonderful example of the unanticipated discoveries that result from applying state-of-the art research techniques to understudied organisms," said Maria Sutton of NSF's Directorate for Biological Sciences. (National Science Foundation)

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE

Whaling and climate change lead to 100 years of feast or famine for Antarctic penguins

New research reveals how two penguin species, the gentoo and the chinstrap, have dealt with more than a century of human impacts in Antarctica, and why some species are winners and others are losers in this rapidly changing ecosystem.

Stalled weather patterns will get bigger due to climate change

Study uncovers relationship between jet stream, atmospheric blocking events.

Study highlights potential for ‘liquid health check’ to predict disease risk

Proteins in our blood could in future help provide a comprehensive ‘liquid health check’, assessing our health and predicting the likelihood that we will we will develop a range of diseases.

Sea fan corals face new threat in warming ocean: copper

Sea fans with higher copper levels more easily succumb to disease.

Geoscientists develop technology to improve forecasting of earthquakes, tsunamis

Geoscientists at the University of South Florida have successfully developed and tested a new high-tech shallow water buoy that can detect the small movements and changes in the Earth's seafloor that may be precursors to deadly natural hazards, such as earthquakes, volcanoes and tsunamis.

Plant biodiversity struggles to return in wake of agricultural abandonment

Decades after farmland is abandoned, plant biodiversity and productivity struggle to recover, according to new University of Minnesota research.