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Bioinspired Navigation Based on Distributed Sensing in the Leech Using Dynamic Neural Fields

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Biomimetic and Biohybrid Systems (Living Machines 2024)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNAI,volume 14930))

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Abstract

Water waves can help aquatic animals to distinguish between predators and prey. Previous studies suggest that leech sensory receptors have evolved to respond to relevant wave frequencies. While these studies examined how sensory information affects animal behavior, the underlying neural processing remains unclear. In this study, we present a model that mimics leech goal seeking behavior using an agent-based simulation. Our model uses neural fields, a Winner-Take-All framework from computational neuroscience, to process sensory data. A simulated leech was placed in a simulated environment containing artificial water waves. A distributed sensor array around the agent detected the wave motion, which was then processed via a computational neuroscience approach called a neural field. This sensory information was used to compute motion directions. Modeled behavioral data aligned with data from previous animal experiments. Our model can complement animal experiments by allowing us to pose questions that would be challenging to address directly in an animal. Also, our results may provide insights into novel processing approaches that can be leveraged by man-made sensory systems to process data from multiple sensors.

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Code is provided as electronic supplementary material (please note that this script may take several hours to run): https://github.com/qbeslab/LeechNavigationNeuralFields.

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Acknowledgments

This work was partially supported by a grant from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (FA9550-20-1-0399). B. Mota is supported by Fundação Serrapilheira Institute (grant Serra-1709-16981) and CNPq (PQ 2017 312837/2017-8).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA

    Sebastian T. Nichols

  2. Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, 44106, USA

    Jeffrey P. Gill & Brian K. Taylor

  3. Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, 21941, Brazil

    Bruno Mota

  4. Metropolitan State University, Saint Paul, MN, 55106, USA

    Cynthia M. Harley

Authors
  1. Sebastian T. Nichols
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  2. Jeffrey P. Gill
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  3. Bruno Mota
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  4. Cynthia M. Harley
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  5. Brian K. Taylor
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Brian K. Taylor .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, USA

    Nicholas S. Szczecinski

  2. Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, USA

    Victoria Webster-Wood

  3. Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA

    Matthew Tresch

  4. Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA

    William R. P. Nourse

  5. Radboud University, Nijmegen, Gelderland, The Netherlands

    Anna Mura

  6. Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA

    Roger D. Quinn

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Nichols, S.T., Gill, J.P., Mota, B., Harley, C.M., Taylor, B.K. (2025). Bioinspired Navigation Based on Distributed Sensing in the Leech Using Dynamic Neural Fields. In: Szczecinski, N.S., Webster-Wood, V., Tresch, M., Nourse, W.R.P., Mura, A., Quinn, R.D. (eds) Biomimetic and Biohybrid Systems. Living Machines 2024. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 14930. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-72597-5_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-72597-5_11

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-031-72596-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-031-72597-5

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