Journal Article

Reactive Searching and Infotaxis in Odor Source Localization

Voges, Nicole, Institut de la Vision ; Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Chaffiol, Antoine, Martinez, Dominique, Institut d'Ecologie et des Sciences de l'Environnement de Paris ; Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD [France-Ouest])-Université Paris-Est Créteil Val-de-Marne - Paris 12 (UPEC UP12)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Ecole Normale Supérieure Paris-Saclay (ENS Paris Saclay), Laboratoire Lorrain de Recherche en Informatique et ses Applications (LORIA) ; Institut National de Recherche en Informatique et en Automatique (Inria)-CentraleSupélec-Université de Lorraine (UL)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Lucas, Philippe, P, French state program Investissements d'Avenir [ANR-10-BINF-05 Pherotaxis], Physiologie de

2014

Overview

Male moths aiming to locate pheromone-releasing females rely on stimulus-adapted search maneuvers complicated by a discontinuous distribution of pheromone patches. They alternate sequences of upwind surge when perceiving the pheromone and cross-or downwind casting when the odor is lost. We compare four search strategies: three reactive versus one cognitive. The former consist of pre-programmed movement sequences triggered by pheromone detections while the latter uses Bayesian inference to build spatial probability maps. Based on the analysis of triphasic responses of antennal lobe neurons (On, inhibition, Off), we propose three reactive strategies. One combines upwind surge (representing the On response to a pheromone detection) and spiral casting, only. The other two additionally include crosswind (zigzag) casting representing the Off phase. As cognitive strategy we use the infotaxis algorithm which was developed for searching in a turbulent medium. Detection events in the electroantennogram of a moth attached to a robot indirectly control this cyborg, depending on the strategy in use. The recorded trajectories are analyzed with regard to success rates, efficiency, and other features. In addition, we qualitatively compare our robotic trajectories to behavioral search paths. Reactive searching is more efficient (yielding shorter trajectories) for higher pheromone doses whereas cognitive searching works better for lower doses. With respect to our experimental conditions (2 m from starting position to pheromone source), reactive searching with crosswind zigzag yields the shortest trajectories (for comparable success rates). Assuming that the neuronal Off response represents a short-term memory, zigzagging is an efficient movement to relocate a recently lost pheromone plume. Accordingly, such reactive strategies offer an interesting alternative to complex cognitive searching.

• Publisher: PLOS,CCSD,Public Library of Science,Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subject: Algorithms / Analysis / Animals / Appetitive Behavior / Artificial Intelligence / Behavior / Biology and Life Sciences / Butterflies & moths / Computational Biology / Computer and Information Sciences / Computer Science / Confidence intervals / Cybernetics / Efficiency / Experiments / Female / Females / Flight, Animal / Life Sciences / Male / Memory / Models, Biological / Moths / Neural and Evolutionary Computing / Odorants - analysis / Pheromones / Physiological aspects / Robotics / Success
• ISBN: 0003445479000